Leo Tolstoy, Death of Ivan Ilych
Ivan is on his deathbed, ailing from an incurable illness, thinking about dying and being generally annoyed with death as any man would be, and while hoping that there might be a chance that he will recover he is subconsciously aware that he is going to die. His death, as he sees it, will be an unfortunate event but not altogether terrible; his daughter and son will survive him, and his position is such that they will not be uncared for after he is gone. Suddenly, Ivan reminisces upon his life and comes to the realization that the accumulation of wealth, of a big house, political power, a beautiful wife, are relatively meaningless, and Ivan asks himself "What if my whole life has really been wrong?" What can be more terrible than realizing, just days before your own death, that your whole life was lived backwards? From this cognizance to the minute of his death Ivan endures more pain than any illness could have inflicted on him; it is the pain of knowing the truth, that his life which could have been something of meaning and substance, was nothing, nothing at all, and it is too late to do anything about it.
