New Delhi, Aug. 11 -- "Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside while still alive. Never surrender."

- Tupac Shakur

Few quotes associated with Tupac Shakur capture the rapper's outlook on life and mortality as sharply as his reflection on what it means to lose something while still being alive.

The quote speaks to a form of loss that occurs long before death itself: the fading of ambition, hope, identity or the will to continue. Its final words, "Never surrender," turn the observation into a message of resistance, urging people to preserve what gives their lives meaning even in the face of adversity.

The words have taken on a particularly poignant resonance in relation to Shakur himself. One of the...