quotations about suicide
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Hamlet
We commit crimes, sins and mistakes. Unfortunately, we also "commit" suicide. When we use the term, there's an inherent assumption that suicide is a wrongdoing. It's implied that the person has committed a crime or sin, unworthy of empathy. Similarly, We should avoid terms like "succeeded" and "failed" when it comes to suicide. How can one be successful when the result is death, or fail at an attempt when the outcome is survival? The paradoxical language leads to confusion, and perpetuate the stigma.
NITIKA GUPTA
"Sensitising the language of suicide", The Asian Age, July 8, 2017
In most cases, suicide is a solitary event and yet it has often far-reaching repercussions for many others. It is rather like throwing a stone into a pond; the ripples spread and spread.
ALISON WERTHEIMER
A Special Scar
Nowadays, suicide is just a way of disappearing. It is carried out timidly, quietly, and falls flat. It is no longer an action, only a submission.
CESARE PAVESE
This Business of Living, April 24, 1936
It's better to burn out than to fade away.
NEIL YOUNG
"My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)", Rust Never Sleeps
The reality of suicide is far different from the fantasy. Most suicidal thinkers romanticize their death by suicide, failing to realize that any suicide gesture or attempt can result in permanent brain, kidney, or liver damage, loss of limbs, blindness, or even death.
SUSAN ROSE BLAUNER
How I Stayed Alive When My Brain Was Trying to Kill Me
I'm not disparaging suicides when I call them weak, I'm pointing out that anybody who would consider doing a thing like that needs help. I don't think a normal, mentally healthy person commits suicide.
JESSE VENTURA
I Ain't Got Time to Bleed
Suicide is not a solution
But it remains an excellent option
IMPALED NAZARENE
"Nihil", Nihil
Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp;
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.
DOROTHY PARKER
"Resume"
Suicide is best understood not so much as a movement toward death as it is a movement away from something and that something is always the same: intolerable emotion, unendurable pain, or unacceptable anguish.
MAURIZIO POMPILI & ROBERTO TATARELLI
Suicide in Schizophrenia
Suicide is a man's attempt to give a final human meaning to a life which has become humanly meaningless.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER
Ethics: The Last Things and the Things Before the Last
Killing myself was a matter of such indifference to me that I felt like waiting for a moment when it would make some difference.
FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY
The Dream of a Ridiculous Man
Nothing in my life has ever made me want to commit suicide more than people's reaction to my trying to commit suicide.
EMILIE AUTUMN
The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls
Suicide creates a monstrous emotional upsurge of shame and guilt. Everyone participates in feeling responsible and even shamed at knowing the suicidal candidate. If these feelings are not healed the vampire of suicidal death can strike again and again.
LINDA LEE LANDON
Life After Suicide
Suicide is complex, there's never a single reason why a person contemplates taking their own life, and there are no absolute indicators that a person could be in that state.
STEVE CRISP
"How Samaritans' Suicide Prevention Training Is Seeing A Decrease In Deaths On The Railways", Huffington Post, June 30, 2017
The obsession with suicide is characteristic of the man who can neither live nor die, and whose attention never swerves from this double impossibility.
EMILE CIORAN
The New Gods
Suicide kills two people. That's what it's for.
ARTHUR MILLER
After the Fall
Talking about suicide with someone you're worried about won't put the idea in their head. Being able to talk about it out loud takes the power away from the thoughts, which are so very powerful. It is a relief to know that someone else knows and cares enough to ask. Depression and suicidal thoughts allow for a cycle of isolation, but for someone in your life, you might be the one who can break that.
ROXANNE MACDONALD
Huffington Post, May 5, 2017
Christopher O'Malley
Went out on a bridge
Down in Chehalis
And clutching his bible
And a letter from her
Fell into the river
Pity no one was there
No angels in the air
And the morning paper ran
One more suicide
His mama stayed by
The river side
Down in Chehalis
And clutching her bible
And a letter from him
Fell into crying
Pity no one was there
No angels in the air
And the morning paper ran
One more suicide
Pity no one was there
No angels in the air
And the morning paper ran
One more suicide
One more suicide
One more suicide
MARCY PLAYGROUND
"One More Suicide"
No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun -- for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax -- This won't hurt.
HUNTER S. THOMPSON
suicide note written four days before his death, "Football Season Is Over"