When people who made positive impressions and inspired others to do better in their long and well-lived lives pass away, the loss can be profound.
But a person who was taken from us at an early age can be even more devastating.
What other things would they have accomplished? What additional contributions could they have made to improve society?
These are the questions one may have following the death of someone they admired and necessarily didn't know personally.
People shared examples when Redditor therealCapCon asked:
"What famous person died too soon?"
These ingenious minds contributed so much to society. What else could they have given us? We'll never know.
He Gave Us The Muppets
"Jim Henson. Man had such a good spirit - he was creative and optimistic and humorous. I'm so sad we lost him so early."
– GawkieBird
He Gave Us Satire
"Douglas Adams. Died at only 48. Must have been only 10 or 15 years away from stopping procrastinating and finishing another book."
– mikedufty
He Fathered Theoretical Computer Science
"Alan Turing."
– BoiledFroglet
"A truly just good human. And what the British government did to him is disgusting and inhumane."
– I_Do_Cannabis_Stuff
He Gave Us Robotics
"Grant Imahara."
– loudwisdom
"I also Cried. And then again when Adam Savage took a tour of Grants workshop that has been kept in stasis since his death."
– jiamby
"Mythbusters is the reason why I'm studying engineering in college. Rip Grant 😞"
– alexx_sandraa
These young comedians left quite a legacy in their age.
We will continue to remember them for lifting us up whenever we were down.
He Cracked Us Up
"John Candy."
– Realitycheck-4u
"This was my answer too. Two of his films were always favorites at my house and I wonder how many we missed out on."
– FDRip
He Left Us In Stitches
"Phil Hartman."
– Volkditty
"I loved him as Troy McClure on the Simpson’s 'I’m Troy McClure and I’ll leave you here for what we all waited to see HARDCORE NUDITY.'”
– Limited_U
He Gave Genius Sketch Comedy
"Trevor Moore, comic genius dead at 41 from a random freak accident, def way too soon and would have kept having great material as society really spiralled out of control."
– yes420
He Gave Us Joy
"John Ritter. Unexpectedly died in his early 50s."
– SquigwardTennisballs
These gifted actors are greatly missed for their inspiring and brilliant work on film.
He Gave Us Drama
"Alan Rickman."
– Introvertedandproud
"Hans Gruber is and will be my favorite ever movie villain, and snape is and will be my second favorite, Rickman was just on another level."
– chartman21
He Was Just Getting Started
"Anton Yelchin"
– kingspooky93
"He was my age and was one of my favorite actors since I saw him in Charlie Bartlett. One of the saddest celebrity deaths for me."
– Psyteq
He Gave A Good Fight
"Bruce Lee. He was only 32 and just finished filming Enter the Dragon. His future was so bright."
– Scubaguy425
He Gave Brilliant Performance
"River Phoenix."
– lemmy_Kno
"100%. This guy was amazing talent. 23 years old and people who weren’t even alive are still finding out about him every day."
– Foo3112
The list was extensive in the thread.
Some of the early losses that gutted me included Prince–who was a musical genius; and the incomparable Robin Williams–whose extraordinary gifts still touch people today.
May all these young souls rest in peace.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram