People, I thought, wanted security. They couldn´t bear the idea of death being a big black nothing, couldn´t bear the thought of their loved ones not existing and couldn´t even imagine themselves not existing. I finally decided that people believed in an afterlife because they couldn´t bear not to.

He shook his head, just looking at me.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing," he said.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Augustus half smiled. "Because you're beautiful."