Expensive cancer-fighting drugs are sparking ethical debate about the tremendous costs and limited benefits of some new treatments.

All the great religious creeds, said writer Reynolds Price, "have known forever that if we're ever to arrive at the state of anything called wisdom, pain seems to be the way we get there."

"My lifelong belief is that love and death interwoven are the heartstrings of religion. The greatest of all truths is that love never dies. The opposite of love is not death. It is fear."

One of the beautiful things about a terminal illness is you are invited into the present, and your friendships become stronger. Your loved ones become more vital and more present. Each day becomes more beautiful. You walk through the valley of the shadow, and it’s riddled with light.