life's a bitch, and then you die

We also printed out several of Kevin’s favorite quotes and sayings and arranged them on the table. Some of the sayings were funny, some were serious, and some were a bit irreverent. For example, one was “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but whips and chains excite me.” Another one said, “Life’s a bitch, and then you die.”

2016 January 6, Jerry E. Hendon, “On Vacation”, in It’s Been a Good Life, Dad: My Son’s Struggle with Cystic Fibrosis, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, →ISBN, part 1 (Kevin’s Life), page 237

Yet, dark comedy acts as a reality check for its brave fans—people who can own the old axiom, “Life’s a bitch, and then you die.”

2016 March 9, Wes D. Gehring, “MASH (1/24/70)”, in Genre-Busting Dark Comedies of the 1970s: Twelve American Films, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 21

Farang crawled out of the cage. She ate the food a priestess brought her – it was just gruel, but it didn’t have any poison. Then she wandered off to her secret altar. She laid down in front of it and cried. Her soul stone was captured again. She was back to square one. Life’s a bitch, and then you die. Or should I say, life’s a shit and then you die. Nothing ever changes. The end.

2016 September 13, Beth Goobie, chapter 11, in The Pain Eater, Toronto, Ont.: Second Story Press, published 2017, →ISBN, page 132

“I guess I just expected more.” Of life, of this conversation, of possibility and the future. What is the use of trying, if this is what comes? / This time, it’s Earvin who shrugs. “That’s all there is and there ain’t no more,” he says. He pushes a coffee cup toward Jersey, full up with black. It says, Life’s a bitch, and then you die, in red block lettering. “I don’t know what you thought you wanted, but this is all you get.”

2017 spring, Brandon Williams, “Along the Cosumnes”, in Jonna G. Semeiks, editor, Confrontation, number 121, Brookville, N.Y.: Long Island University, published June 2017, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 57

Cynical’s sensible, and it’s all sunshine and roses until you start fighting and then the next stage is, “It’s not you – it’s us. Mommy and Daddy still love you both very much." ’S’amazing how everyone reverts to cliché. Here’s a cliché – life’s a bitch. Life’s a bitch, and then you die. Everyone knows I’m right, we’re all dancing on the Titanic and no one will admit the Emperor’s got his cock out.

2017 May 4, Francesca Segal, chapter 45, in The Awkward Age, London: Chatto & Windus, →ISBN, page 327