Finding inspiration when writing a eulogy

If you've been asked to do a eulogy for a family member or even a friend, your first feeling often is pride — which is quickly followed by stress as you begin to think, “What do I say?” 
Penning a eulogy takes effort and care. Rarely do our English classes in school give lessons on eulogy writing. So one of the best ways to learn how to pen a eulogy is by reading others. 
Below, you’ll find a few well-written eulogies that can help motivate you. We’re not saying you should copy these eulogies but rather pull ideas from them. You’ll also find a list of popular Bible verses and passages others have used in eulogies or homilies during memorial and funeral services. Sometimes, these can stir some thoughts about what to say as well. 
And finally, we’ve included a list of quotations regarding life and death. You can recite these in the eulogy or even use one as the basis for your eulogy.
EULOGIES WORTH READING
On Jan. 30, 1965, Sir Robert Menzies, the Australian prime minister, reminded mourners that one man can not only unite a country but many countries when it came to standing up to, what appeared, overwhelming evil. Menzies' stirring words remembering Sir Winston Churchill shows us how a eulogy doesn’t always need to touch every part of a person’s life but can focus on those points that really made the individual stand out.
“In the whole of recorded modern history, this was, I believe, the one occasion when one man, with one soaring imagination, with one fire burning in him, and with one unrivalled capacity for conveying it to others, won a crucial victory not only for the forces (for there were many heroes in those days) but for the very spirit of human freedom. And so, on this great day, we thank him, and we thank God for him.”

When U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein spoke during Bob Hope’s funeral Aug. 27, 2003, she sprinkled in the words of others within her eulogy. While we often ask, “What can I say?” about the person, sometimes, it’s worth reading or remembering what others said and find a way to incorporate that in your tribute. Just remember to credit the person who first said or wrote it and also make sure it fits in your eulogy. If you just scribble it in there because it sounds nice but doesn’t relate to your eulogy, people will know.
“When another president — Abraham Lincoln — died in the house across the street from Ford's Theater, his secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, standing at Lincoln's side, said, 'Now, he belongs to the ages.' The same is equally true of Bob Hope. He is not America's; he is the world's. He belongs not to our age, but to all ages. And yet, even though he belongs to all time and to all peoples, he is our own, for he was quintessentially American.”

Maya Angelou inspired the nation, and the world, with her words. After the death of Coretta Scott King, the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Angelou reminded the world of Mrs. King’s dedication to the fight against injustice. But it wasn’t enough just to remind us. So in her eulogy for Mrs. King, Angelou pushed us to keep going in the direction toward which Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife helped point us. While eulogies often recount a person’s life, they also can be used to inspire listeners to pick up where the person left off or even achieve their own dreams.
“And those of us who gather here, principalities, presidents, senators, those of us who run great companies, who know something about being parents, who know something about being preachers and teachers … we owe something from this minute on, so that this gathering is not just another footnote on the pages of history. We owe something.  I pledge to you, my sister, I will never cease. I mean to say I want to see a better world. I mean to say I want to see some peace somewhere. I mean to say I want to see some honesty, some fair play. I want to see kindness and justice. This is what I want to see, and I want to see it through my eyes and through your eyes, Coretta Scott King.”