De l'inconvénient d'être né
The Trouble with Being Born is a 1973 philosophy book by Romanian author Emil Cioran. The book is presented as a series of aphorisms, meditating primarily on the painful nature of being alive, and how this is connected to other subjects, such as God, metaphysical exile, and decay. In 2020, The Trouble with Being Born became a Penguin Modern Classic.
Stats for nerds
1recommend
2mentions
2people
2017–2019years
50% recommend50% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Emil Cioran is a pretty twisted individual, but his writing is amazingly beautiful. In particular, De l'inconvénient d'être né is pretty fantastic, especially in French (haven't read any translated versions, so can't vouch for it).
I was introduced to him by my previous boss. I was going through some rough times, and my boss recommended some of his books, summarising Cioran's thoughts on the matter of suicide as being a crutch to survive.
He saw suicide as an eternal escape hatch. No matter what happened, he still had the comfort (and control) of being able to say "Stop."
I'm not sure I would agree that it is the main message, but it is true that On the Heights of Despair does allude to that way of thinking.
I highly recommend Cioran, to anyone who is interested by philosophy. As with most philosophers you will read about, there will be major disagreements between you and the author, but his works have definitely shaped how I perceived parts of life.
- In my circle of friends, there was a similar tragic case: Someone suicidal took deadly poison with delayed effect (5-10min), immediately regretted it and called one of my friends for help. (Sadly, the ambulance couldn't save him.)
The very pessimistic philosopher Emil Cioran (author of e.g. De l'inconvénient d'être né, "The Trouble With Being Born") who beside his suicidal thoughts died at age 84 once said in an interview, that suicidal thoughts are paradoxically the reason, why he stayed alive: The knowledge of the choice to end existence if the suffering is too much makes it possible to endure its insufferableness.
Maybe it is this choice, to live or not, that makes a lot things bearable? And it's much harder if this choice is gone for whatever reason, in one direction or another?
