"There is No Dignity in Death"

I was watching the television show "House" the other night. It was a rerun that I had seen before, and had forgotten. But, he made a good point that I could ponder on for the rest of my life. It could even be a motto to live by. He was with a patient and she said to him, "Just go away and let me die with dignity." To which he quickly responded in a fierce tone,
To paraphrase:

"There is no dignity in death. There never is. [pause] You can LIVE with dignity. But, there is no dignity in death."

I repeat it. "There is no dignity in death."

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines dignity as, "the quality or state of being worthy, honored, or esteemed" And what I think Dr. House means is that death shows no man dignity. Death overcomes man's body, breaks it, and ravages it--cause it to suffer in the pain of death. No man escapes the agony of death. From all accounts, no matter how death occurs, even if in an instant it is undignified agony. Dr. House's message to the woman was to choose life if you are given the option even if it is a struggle to live.

I won't go into an in depth discussion on this, because like I said before, it is something to ponder on for the rest of one's life. But, it also reminds me of the old Church teaching, to live everyday as though it were your last.