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Quote by Rebecca West

“There is in every one of us an unending see-saw between the will to live and the will to die.”

Quote by Rebecca West

Book:The strange necessity: essays by Rebecca West

Work

The strange necessity: essays by Rebecca West

This book features a selection of essays written by Rebecca West, exploring various themes and ideas with her characteristic wit and insight. more

Author

Rebecca West, born Cecil William James on December 21, 1892, and died on March 15, 1983, was a prominent British author of the 20th century. Known for her profound social insight and unique literary style, she left a lasting impact on the world of literature. more

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“Our excessive tolerance with regard to suicide is due to the fact that, since the state of mind from which it springs is a general one, we cannot condemn it without condemning ourselves; we are too saturated with it not partly to excuse it.”

Mind States Facts Spring Regard Suicide Excuse Dues Tolerance State Of Mind Suicidal Condemning Saturated

Author:Emile Durkheim

“Pain or not, I would most likely walk around in a suicidal reverie the rest of my life, never actually doing anything about it. Was there a psychological term for that? Was there a disease that involved an intense desire to die, but no will to go through with it? Couldn't talk and thoughts of suicide be considered a whole malady of their own, a special subcategory of depression in which the loss of a will to live has not quite been displaced by a determination to die?”

Whole Pain Desire Dies Term Loss Walks Special Involved Disease Determination Suicide Intense Psychological Suicidal Reverie Malady Will To Live

Book:Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America

Source: Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America

“But just as a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing, a little bit of energy, in the hands of someone hell-bent on suicide, is a very dangerous thing.”

Littles Hands Energy Bits Hell Dangerous Little Bit Suicide Bent Suicidal Dangerous Things

Author:Elizabeth Wurtzel

“I guess I realize that I don't want to die. I don't want to live either, but-there really isn't anything in-between. Depression is about as close as you get to somewhere between dead and alive, and it's the worst. But since the tendency toward inertia means that it's easier for me to stay alive than die, I guess that's how it's going to be, so I guess I should try to be happy.”

Want Should Trying Mean Dies Realizing Alive Worst Easier Tendencies Suicidal Wanting To Die Inertia Staying Alive Trying To Be Happy

Book:Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America

Source: Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America

“Most people get suicide, I guess; most people, even if it's hidden deep down inside somewhere, can remember a time in their lives when they thought about whether they really wanted to wake up the next day. Wanting to die seems like it might be a part of being alive.”

People Ifs Seems Might Wanted Remember Dies Next Alive Wake Up Suicide Next Day Suicidal Deep Down Wanting To Die

Author:Nick Hornby

“The knives in my apartment are only sharp enough to open envelopes with. Cutting a slice of coarse bread is on the borderline of their ability. I don't need anything sharper. Otherwise, on bad days, it might easily occur to me that I could always go stand in the bathroom in front of the mirror and slit my throat. On such occasions it's nice to have the added security of needing to go downstairs and borrow a decent knife from a neighbor.”

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Author:Peter Høeg

“It was my last act of love (first words to her mother in the hospital after her first major suicide attempt)”

Firsts Lasts Mother Majors Suicide Hospitals Suicidal Acts Of Love

Author:Sylvia Plath

“The only option for a pure idealist is to commit suicide.”

Pure Suicide Commit Suicidal Idealist

Author:Wu Guoguang

“... I vowed that I would always respect the right of an individual to kill himself. Whether suicide was a moral or immoral act I no longer felt sure, but of the dignity of its intransigence I was convinced.”

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Book:Against Joie De Vivre

Source: Against Joie De Vivre

“I imagined a psychic pain growing inside him (myself) that demanded some physical outlet. Suicide must have been his attempt to give Pain a body, a representation, to put it outside himself. A need to convert inner torment into some outward tangible wound that all could see. It was almost as though suicide were a last-ditch effort at exorcism, in which the person sacrificed his life in order that the devil inside might die.”

Needs Giving Persons Has Beens Body Might Pain Lasts Order Dies Effort Growing Devil Suicide Wounds Representation Psychics Torment Suicidal Outlets Tangible Exorcism

Author:Phillip Lopate