"Sin is the spiritual death of the soul. Hence man is preserved from future sin in the same way as the body is preserved from future death of the body: and this happens in two ways. First of all, in so far as man's nature is strengthened inwardly against inner decay, and so by means [...]
"Slander is a kind of murder; for we all have three lives – a spiritual life, which depends upon the Grace of God; a bodily life, depending on the soul; and a civil life, consisting in a good reputation. Sin deprives us of the first, death of the second, and slander of the third." [...]
"Do you know where this tree of death is rooted? In the height of pride, which is nourished by their sensual selfishness. Its core is impatience and its offshoot is the lack of any discernment. These are the four chief vices, which together kill the souls of those I have called trees of death, since [...]
"Blessed is he who keeps the moment of death ever before his eyes and prepares for it every day." Source: Thomas a’ Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Dover Thrift Editions, 1940.
"Just as the just begin to see their happiness more clearly at death, so these wretched souls are presented with the sight of their evil lives. There is no need for anyone else to show them, for their own conscience sets before them the sins they have committed and the virtues they ought to have [...]
"For if we look at the matter a little more carefully, we shall see that even when a man dies faithfully and laudably for the truth’s sake, it is still death he is avoiding… He submits to the separation of soul and body, lest the soul be separated both from God and from the body, [...]