Suicide

Explore 10 quotes 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 heartache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to—’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. 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,
Must give us pause.

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

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Topic

Suicide The afterlife

Speaker

Hamlet

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Hamlet

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 3, sc. 1.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 3, sc. 1.

There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.

Albert Camus

The Myth of Sisyphus

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Topic

Suicide Purpose of life Philosophy

Author

Albert Camus

Source

The Myth of Sisyphus

Medium

Essay

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1942 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Camus, Albert. Le Mythe de Sisyphe [The Myth of Sisyphus]. Éditions Gallimard, 1942.

Suicide... Is about life, being in fact the sincerest form of criticism life gets.

Wilfrid Sheed

More information about this quote

Topic

Suicide

Author

Wilfrid Sheed

Source

The Good Word & Other Words

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1978 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Sheed, Wilfrid. The Good Word & Other Words. E. P. Dutton, 1978, pt. 1, ch. 15.

O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,
Or that the Everlasting had not fixed
His canon ’gainst self-slaughter! O God, God,
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

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Topic

Over it Hopelessness and despair Suicide

Speaker

Hamlet

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Hamlet

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 1, sc. 2.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 1, sc. 2.

The thought of suicide is a great source of comfort: with it a calm passage is to be made across many a bad night.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Beyond Good and Evil

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Topic

Suicide

Author

Friedrich Nietzsche

Source

Beyond Good and Evil

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1886 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Jenseits von Gut und Böse: Vorspiel einer Philosophie der Zukunft [Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future]. Leipzig: C. G. Naumann, 1886, ch. 4, no. 157.

Current Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond Good and Evil, translated by R. J. Hollingdale. Penguin Classics, 2003, ch. 4, no. 157.

Is it sin to rush into the secret house of death
Ere death dare come to us?

William Shakespeare

Antony and Cleopatra

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Topic

Suicide Death

Speaker

Cleopatra

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Antony and Cleopatra

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Statement Type

Question

Language

English

Time

1607 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Antony and Cleopatra. King's Men, c. 1607, London, England, UK, act 4, sc. 15.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Antony and Cleopatra." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al.,, 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 4, sc. 15.

Against self-slaughter
There is a prohibition so divine
That cravens my weak hand.

William Shakespeare

Cymbeline

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Topic

Suicide Taboos

Speaker

Imogen

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Cymbeline

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1611 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Cymbeline. 1611, Blackfriars Theatre, London, England, UK, act 3, sc. 4.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Cymbeline." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 3, sc. 4.

We cannot tear out a single page of life, but we can throw the whole book in the fire.

George Sand

Mauprut

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Topic

Suicide

Author

George Sand

Source

Mauprut

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

French

Time

1837 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Sand, George. "Mauprat." Revue des deu Monds, Apr.-June 1837. Serial.

Man is a prisoner who has no right to open the door of his prison and run away…a man should wait, and not take his own life until God summons him.

Socrates

Quoted in Phaedo, by Plato

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Topic

Suicide

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Phaedo

Medium

Philosophical dialogue Dialogue

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

360 BC 360s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Φαίδων [Phaedo], written by Plato. c. 360 BC.

Current Citation

Socrates. Quoted in "Phaedo." Plato: Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo, written by Plato, translated by G. M. A. Grube and John M. Cooper. Hackett Publishing, 2002.

So every bondman in his own hand bears
The power to cancel his captivity.

William Shakespeare

Julius Caesar

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Topic

Suicide

Speaker

Casca

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Julius Caesar

Medium

Play

Genre

History (play) Tragedy (play)

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

English

Time

1599 1590s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. The Lord Chamberlain's Men, 1599, Globe Theatre, London, England, UK, act 1, sc. 3.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Julius Caesar." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 1, sc. 3.