"Some critics of the pessimist often think they have his back to the wall when they blithely jeer, “If that is how this fellow feels, he should either kill himself or be decried as a hypocrite.” That the pessimist should kill himself in order to live up to his ideas may be counterattacked as betraying such a crass intellect that it does not deserve a response. Yet it is not much of a chore to produce one. Simply because someone has reached the conclusion that the amount of suffering in this world is enough that anyone would be better off never having been born does not mean that by force of logic or sincerity he must kill himself. It only means he has concluded that the amount of suffering in this world is enough that anyone would be better off never having been born. Others may disagree on this point as it pleases them, but they must accept that if they believe themselves to have a stronger case than the pessimist, then they are mistaken."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Thomas Ligotti, The Conspiracy Against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror (2011),
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philosophical_pessimism
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Philosophical pessimism
352 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Philosophical pessimism →
Related Quotes
"One can regret not having done something and one can also regret having done something. Doubt, dread, and fear of dec…"
"If one finds it. If the meaning of life is to seek meaning in life, then to find meaning in life is to remain without…"
"Better to be an animal than a man, an insect than an animal, a plant than an insect, and so on. Salvation? Whatever d…"
"Everything that is engenders, sooner or later, nightmares. Let us try, therefore, to invent something better than being."
"If everyone had seen through everything, if everyone had "understood," history would have ceased long since. But we a…"
"Above all, we cannot expect the state to make people happy. Even if it effectively protects the rights of everyone, i…"
"We laugh, but inept is our laughter, We should weep, and weep sore, Who are shattered like glass and thereafter Remol…"
"Consider the capacity of the human body for pleasure. Sometimes, it is pleasant to eat, to drink, to see, to touch, t…"
"Sadness, more than an emotion, is a discovery. It is the discovery that we have no power over the world, that we are …"
"The only thing the young should be taught is that there is virtually nothing to be hoped for from life. One dreams of…"