Gospel of St Matthew

Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?’

— Matthew 16.24-26

Compare these words with the quotes on living life from Mary Oliver, Carol Ann Duffy, and Ian Adams.