If there is no God and death simply means nothing, negato, nada, that's very hard to countenance. The idea of nothing is almost unthinkable to a thinking mind and to an emotional mind and an intense mind.
Quote #1088 from Edna O'Brien as quoted in AT LUNCH WITH: Edna O'Brien; Casting a Cold Eye (August 30, 1995) (James F. Clarity) (New York Times)