Mary Roach, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

"We are biology. We are reminded of this at the beginning and the end, at birth and at death. In between we do what we can to forget."

"Not that there's anything wrong with just lying around on your back. In it's way, rotting is interesting too, as we will see. It's just that there are other ways to spend your time as a cadaver."

"The point is that no matter what you choose to do with your body when you die, it won't, ultimately, be very appealing. If you are inclined to donate yourself to science, you should not let images of dissection or dismemberment put you off. They are no more or less gruesome, in my opinion, than ordinary decay or the sewing shut of your jaws via your nostrils for a funeral viewing."

"There wasn't an anhydrous lacrimal gland in the room..."

"Many people will find this book disrespectful. There is nothing amusing about being dead, they will say. Ah, but there is."

"We are biology. We are reminded of this at the beginning and the end, at birth and at death. In between we do what we can to forget."