In the United States, some denominations either discourage or do not permit eulogies at services to maintain respect for traditions.
Eulogies should not be confused with elegies, which are poems written in tribute to the dead; nor with obituaries, which are published biographies recounting the lives of those who have recently died; nor with obsequies, which refer generally to the rituals surrounding funerals.
On occasions, eulogies are given to those who are severely ill or elderly in order to express words of love and gratitude before they die.
In some cases, a self-eulogy is written before the subject dies, with the aim of having a friend or family member read out their words to the funeral mass.
President Ronald Reagan’s eulogy for the Challenger space shuttle crew (1986): I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen.
All over the world she was a symbol of selfless humanity, a standard-bearer for the rights of the truly downtrodden, a truly British girl who transcended nationality, someone with a natural nobility who was classless, who proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic.
[9]Jawaharlal Nehru’s eulogy for Mahatma Gandhi (1948): The first thing to remember now is that no one of us dare misbehave because we’re angry.
In most parts of the world, eulogies mostly focus on the biography of the person's life by highlighting the major events of their lives, such as work or career, education, etc.