It amazes me that the most Christian funerals are the most barbaric funeral rites of passage that are celebrated anywhere in the world.
I can't admit things; that's why I can't go to funerals and stuff like that. I find it very, very difficult to deal with that kind of reality. I shut myself off totally because it affects me so badly.
Don't send funny greeting cards on birthdays or at Christmas. Save them for funerals, when their cheery effect is needed.
I was brought up by very witty people who were dealing with quite difficult things: disease and death... I was brought up by people who tended to giggle at funerals.
Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours.
So many of us have loved ones and people we really care about, and the only time we show affection is when they are gone. I have preached at funerals, and you see loved ones who didn't even say hello to dear ones when they were alive. Give them hugs, kisses while they are alive and need it.
I've been to many funerals of funny people, and they're some of the funniest days you'll ever have, because the emotions run high.
I pointed out that the Atlanta Olympic bomber - as well as Timothy McVeigh and the people who protest against gay rights at military funerals - are Christians but we journalists don't identify them by their religion.
I'm more interested in the meaning of funerals and the mourning that people do. It's not a retail experience. It's an existential one.
You can easily take photographs at a wedding - no one would question it. But funerals are different.