“There is an assumption, in attaching Puritan concepts such as 'successful' and 'unsuccessful' to the awful, final act of suicide, that those who 'fail' at killing themselves not only are weak, but incompetent, incapable even of getting their dying quite right.” SuccessfulFailingDyingConceptsWeakSuicideKillingFinalsAwfulAssumptionIncapableIncompetentPuritanUnsuccessful Book:An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness Source: An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
“No matter how successful, beloved, influential her work was, when a woman author dies, nine times out of ten, she gets dropped from the lists, the courses, the anthologies, while the men get kept. ... If she had the nerve to have children, her chances of getting dropped are higher still. ... So if you want your writing to be taken seriously, don't marry and have kids, and above all, don't die. But if you have to die, commit suicide. They approve of that.” IfsMenWantWritingChildrenStillsMatterKidsDiesCoursesChanceSuccessfulTakenHe ManHigherTenSuicideListsNineCommitBelovedNervesInfluentialAnthology Author:Ursula K. Le Guin
“suicide is a crime - the only crime that, if successful, guarantees that the perpetrator will not be punished for it. This makes it the most serious crime of all.” IfsSuccessfulCrimeSeriousSuicideGuaranteesGuarantees ThatPerpetrators Author:Joanne Greenberg
“Death is too much for men to bear, whereas women, who are practiced in bearing the deaths of men before their own and who are alsopracticed in bearing life, take death almost in stride. They go to meet death--that is, they attempt suicide--twice as often as men, though men are more "successful" because they use surer weapons, like guns.” MenUseDeathWomenSuccessfulToo MuchBearsWeaponsGunSuicideStride Author:Roger Rosenblatt
“We had a lot of confidence that there was going to be a successful mission. We weren't off on some suicide effort, certainly [with Friendship 7].” EffortSuccessfulSuicideMissions Author:John Glenn
“There had been a number of failures but we weren't going out to ride a failure. And we felt they'd corrected all the difficulties with the boosters before that time and the launch problems. And so we had a lot of confidence that there was going to be a successful mission. We weren't off on some suicide effort, certainly.” ProblemFeltNumbersEffortSuccessfulDifficultySuicideMissionsGoing Out Author:John Glenn
“With suicide, it's a strange thing in Japanese culture. It's acceptable. My parents would have been devastated if my attempt had been successful, but they would have somehow accepted it.” CultureParentSuccessfulStrangeSuicideAcceptedDevastated Author:Ken Ono
“Suicide is a form of murder - premeditated murder. It isn't something you do the first time you think of doing it. It takes getting used to. And you need the means, the opportunity, the motive. A successful suicide demands good organization and a cool head, both of which are usually incompatible with the suicidal state of mind.” ThinkingNeedsMindFirstsMeanStatesFormUsedOpportunitySuccessfulDemandFirst TimeOrganizationMurderSuicideMotiveState Of MindSuicidalGirl InterruptedGood Organization Author:Susanna Kaysen
“Success and failure are both difficult to endure. Along with success come drugs, divorce, fornication, bullying, travel, meditation, medication, depression, neurosis and suicide. With failure comes failure.” FunnySuccessDifficultSuccessfulMeditationFailureDrugHumorousSuicideEndureDivorceBullyingSuccess And FailureMedicationNeurosisFunny Business Author:Joseph Heller
“A successful suicide demands good organization and a cool head, both of which are usually incompatible with the suicidal state of mind.” MindStatesSuccessfulDemandOrganizationSuicideState Of MindSuicidalSelf HarmGirl InterruptedGood Organization Book:Girl, Interrupted Source: Girl, Interrupted