quotations about suicide
Not only is suicide a sin, it is the sin. It is the ultimate and absolute evil, the refusal to take an interest in existence; the refusal to take the oath of loyalty to life. The man who kills a man, kills a man. The man who kills himself, kills all men. As far as he is concerned he wipes out the world.
G. K. CHESTERTON
Orthodoxy
Against self-slaughter
There is a prohibition so divine
That cravens my weak hand.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Cymbeline
My reason understands very well that I should not go on living any longer. It's amazing that I should still have my reason. But this reason is as fragile as a castle of sand by the seaside that the rising tide begins to wash over. Another two or three large waves and it will disappear without a trace.
KOBO ABE
The Box Man
It's especially important to be mindful of the way we discuss suicide because with any health condition that someone may be struggling with, words matter a lot. It's important to understand that people who are feeling suicidal do not choose to feel that way; their feelings are a symptom of their mental health condition.
WENDY MARTINEZ
"Suicide is not a selfish act", Mason City Globe Gazette, June 30, 2017
What a silly thing to do, he thought. What a goddam silly thing to do. You wont even be there to watch their faces.
JAMES JONES
From Here to Eternity
Suicide is a whispered word, inappropriate for polite company. Family and friends often pretend they do not hear the word's dread sound even when it is uttered. For suicide is a taboo subject that stigmatizes not only the victim but the survivors as well.
EARL A. GROLLMAN
Suicide
All suicides have the responsibility of fighting against the temptation of suicide. Every one of them knows very well in some corner of his soul that suicide, though a way out, is rather a mean and shabby one, and that it is nobler and finer to be conquered by life than to fall by one's own hand.
HERMANN HESSE
Steppenwolf
And should men name me dead, I beg ye, say
"Nay, he but wearied here, and went away."
KENNETH RAND
"The Suicide"
If wild my breast and sore my pride,
I bask in dreams of suicide,
If cool my heart and high my head
I think 'How lucky are the dead.'
DOROTHY PARKER
The Complete Poems of Dorothy Parker
The pain of depression and despair can build enough heat to melt the lead walls surrounding you. The darkness of charcoal, under pressure, can turn into a diamond. We need to realize blessings come in strange shapes and sizes, and if we are willing to learn from our pain, then suicide is not on the list of options.
SUSAN ROSE BLAUNER
How I Stayed Alive When My Brain Was Trying to Kill Me
There is no refuge from confession but suicide; and suicide is confession.
DANIEL WEBSTER
"Argument on the Murder of Captain White"
A suicide hotline can give a suicidal person someone to talk to. I don't want to downplay the importance of that. When someone needs someone to talk to and nobody is available, providing that service is obviously good, if it is done well.... But talking is not enough. If a person's suicidality is rooted in poverty, racism, trauma, isolation, or some other form of oppression -- talking alone can never solve that. It can get the person to survive to the next moment. But it won't make the causes of their suicidality go away.
LIZ KESSLER
"Who is responsible for preventing suicide?", Rabble, June 11, 2018
To be human is inevitably, to hate oneself sometimes, to hunger for the perfect stability and in a way the perfect justice -- or at least perfect punishment for our numerous imperfections -- called death.
JOHN GARDNER
In the Suicide Mountains
There are many who dare not kill themselves for fear of what the neighbours will say.
CYRIL CONNOLLY
The Unquiet Grave
When you're young and healthy you can plan on Monday to commit suicide, and by Wednesday you're laughing again.
MARILYN MONROE
My Story
The man, who in a fit of melancholy, kills himself today, would have wished to live had he waited a week.
VOLTAIRE
"Cato", Philosophical Dictionary
I think many people kill themselves simply to stop the debate about whether they will or they won't. Anything I thought or did was immediately drawn into the debate. Made a stupid remark--why not kill myself? Missed the bus--better put an end to it all.... Actually, it was only part of myself I wanted to kill: the part that wanted to kill herself, that dragged me into the suicide debate and made every window, kitchen implement, and subway station a rehearsal for tragedy.
SUSANNA KAYSEN
Girl, Interrupted
When a famous person dies by suicide, we "remind" people to pick up the phone and call a hotline. "If he'd only reached out for help because help was available," is a frequent refrain, as if people who suffer don't know that and the disease doesn't disable cognitive function. We need to do more than give out phone numbers.
BOB COLLINS
"When the suicide is someone you've never heard of", Minnesota Public Radio, June 8, 2018
To the ears of one possessed by the God of Death, reason and objections seem like so many idle complaints.
CHIKAMATSU MONZAEMON
The Love Suicides at Amijma
Suicides are timid murderers. Masochism instead of Sadism.
CESARE PAVESE
This Business of Living