Roger Ebert: The Essential Man

I have never in my life found a celebrity feature that moved me so much, so instantly, so deeply than this one. It might be — no hyperbole — the most profound piece of magazine journalism I’ve ever read:

I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear. I hope to be spared as much pain as possible on the approach path. I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state. What I am grateful for is the gift of intelligence, and for life, love, wonder, and laughter. You can’t say it wasn’t interesting. My lifetime’s memories are what I have brought home from the trip. I will require them for eternity no more than that little souvenir of the Eiffel Tower I brought home from Paris.

Like, seriously, I am not the same person.