Spare me the whispering, crowded room, the friends who come and gape and go, the ceremonious air of gloom - all, which makes death a hideous show.
Source: In Webster's Electronic Quotebase, ed. Keith Mohler, 1994.
-- Matthew Arnold, (Dec 24 1822-1888), English poet, critic; He was an Oxford professor, known for his poem Dover Beach, 1853 and as a crusader for classicism.