Montaigne

Quintilian once said 'the senses are less afflicted by physical suffering than by the thought of it.' Certainly for most men the preparation for death has been more tormenting than the pangs themselves. To contemplate a future death calls for a courage that is slow, and consequently difficult to acquire. The truth is we only have to prepare ourselves against our preparations for death. If you do not know how to die, never mind—nature will give you full and adequate instruction in the fullness of time. It is not for death that we should prepare ourselves; it is too momentary. A quarter of an hour's suffering, without any negative consequences to follow, does not deserve special attention.  The proper study of life is itself.

—Michel de Montaigne, Essays, On Physiognomy, p329.