Marcus

“I see no value in my having been depressed…It is a dreadful scourge that has caused me terrible pain…it is a disease no question of that and one, which like all the others, demands to be understood and relieved. Yes, of course I have learned who my true friends are and who can stay by me in my worst times….it does help to know that there are others and that slowly people…are beginning to learn something about it. But it has been around an awfully long time, a lot of people are suffering and it is about bloody time we took it seriously.”
― Anthony Clare, Depression and How to Survive It

“In other words, we humans are smart enough to make ourselves sick with thoughts, emotions, and memories—and we Westernized humans live long enough for the consequences to eventually haunt us big-time.”
― Robert M. Sapolsky, Stress and Your Body

“Basically he didn’t object to the destruction of the sperm bank. The idea of buying sperm and more generally of launching oneself into a reproductive project that didn’t even have the excuse of sexual desire or love … even struck him as frankly revolting.”
― Michel Houellebecq, Anéantir

“You did not have children. Your wife had asked you if you wanted any. You didn’t feel ready yet, and you didn’t know if you ever would be. To procreate was such an important and such a mysterious act that you did not believe yourself capable of doing it wisely. You had to accept not being able to measure up to your capacity to transmit life. You did not think that, when they conceived you, your parents were any more reasonable than you currently were. Guessing at the selfishness and the levity of their decision distressed you.”
― Édouard Levé, Suicide