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Wise Words From Some Of The Celebrities Who Died In 2016

There's been a lot of death in the news these last few days, between Syria and several celebrities. As we close the year, we might recall some things said by some people we lost that will stay with us for a long time.

Prince, who died at 57 after making music to dazzle generations, said, "It's a hurtful place, the world, in and of itself. We don't need to add to it."

Elie Weisel, who survived Auschwitz to reveal the Holocaust for so many, died at 87. I thought of his words when Aleppo fell this month to the Syrian regime.

"Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion or political views," he said, "that place must become the center of the universe."

Arnold Palmer was also 87. He brought his steel mill town values to the country club game of golf, and said, "The more I practice, the luckier I get."

Garry Marshall, the writer and director, was 81, and once advised: "Learn to work with people you wouldn't go to lunch with."

Muhammad Ali, the champion of the world — still, for many people — was 74. He said a lot of things outlandish and wise, in a life that was almost overfilled with triumphs and misfortunes.

"A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20," he said, "has wasted 30 years of his life."

John Glenn was 95, a hero in the classic sense of a man who dared to go into the realm of gods.

"But as I hurtled through space," he once said, "one thought kept crossing my mind: Every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder."

David Bowie was just 69, and also a Starman.

"I don't like to read things that people write about me," he said. "I'd rather read what kids have to say about me because it's not their profession to do that."

Debbie Reynolds was a teenage star who grew up to be a Great Dame — she liked the title — of show business.

She said, "I do 20 minutes whenever I open the refrigerator and the light goes on."

She died at 84 — just a day after losing her daughter, Carrie Fisher, who was 60.

The mother was a ham. Her daughter was wry.

"If my life wasn't funny it would just be true," Carrie Fisher said, "and that is unacceptable."

As Leonard Cohen, who was 82, said, "There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in."

And Merle Haggard, who died on his birthday at 79, came out of the Dust Bowl to sing about loss, love and learning from hard knocks. He said, "By the time you get close to the answers, it's nearly all over."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Scott Simon is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled character and characters, in war and peace, sports and art, tragedy and comedy.