How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"For now, just think of death as a transformation—a bit more radical than puberty, but nothing to get particularly upset about. It's just one of the body's changes. When it happens, it happens. The warrior neither seeks death nor flees from it." (4.410)
Here Socrates emphasizes that death is just one more change. That's what Dan's final vision, near the end of the book (8.61-79), also reveals, when he sees animals feasting on his corpse, basically the great cycle of life and death. It's not something to get upset over, he concludes like Socrates, because we are really everything. We are part of Consciousness, not our unimportant individual personalities.
Quote #5
"Death is not sad; the sad thing is that most people don't really live at all." (4.411)
In other words, mortality is a fact of life, so it's not something to get sad about, any more than 2+2=4 is something to get sad about. The real question is how to live a good, fulfilling life.
Quote #6
"Consider your fleeting years, Danny! One day you'll discover that death is not what you imagine; but then, neither is life. Either may be wondrous, filled with change; or, if you do not awaken, both may turn out to be a considerable disappointment." (7.117)
Throughout this novel, Dan is, deep down, afraid of death. That's what's holding him back from a life of peace and happiness. It isn't until he passes through the gate—see the Symbols, Imagery, Allegory section for more on the gate—that Dan is able to get over his ultimate fear.