"Unless I am in unbearable pain, I should be able to live right up to the last moments."

"Here is an inspiring (although slightly gruesome) example: Under bloody Queen Mary, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the author of the lovely Anglican prayer book, was burned at the stake for his protestant views despite signing false confessions of faith in Catholic doctrine. Even as the flames licked up around him, and his death was moments away, he was very much living (not dying) when he put his right hand into the heart of the fire to punish it for signing false confessions. I know I will die soon. But must I be miserable about it? Why not find a cause for joy in each day?... There’s nothing wrong with dying. All the best people in history have done it. Let foolish philosophers see themselves as dying every day. Thinking of death, I choose life."

 
Writes Paul Woodruff in "My death is close at hand. But I do not think of myself as dying" (WaPo).