When a third wave of poverty overwhelmed me, I knew with even greater certitude than when I lived in Clerkenwell that the only complete solution to my problems was suicide. I never brought it off. I was afraid... Hopelessness was thinly spread like a drizzle over my whole outlook. But, in an emergency, I could not find a puddle of despondency deep enough to drown in.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Crisp admits he considered suicide during poverty but could not find the will to do it.
- In plain terms
- He felt hopeless but couldn't follow through with suicide.
- What can you take from it?
- Hopelessness doesn't always lead to action.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What keeps you going in hard times?
- How do you cope with hopelessness?
Another view
The quote is deeply personal and not universally relatable.
More from Quentin Crisp
'You'll never be wanted,' [a draft board official] said, and thrust at me a smaller piece of paper. This described me as being incapable of being graded in gra…
Permalink to quote #19 Life was a funny thing that happened to me on the way to the grave.
Permalink to quote #21 The consuming desire of most human beings is deliberately to place their entire life in the hands of some other person. For this purpose they frequently choose…
Permalink to quote #18
Related quotes
I am writing this under an appreciable mental strain, since by tonight I shall be no more. Penniless, and at the end of my supply of the drug which alone makes…
H. P. LovecraftH. P. Lovecraft quote #5 Did it ever strike you on such a morning as this that drowning would be happiness and peace?
Charles DickensCharles Dickens quote #18 Some mornings it just doesn't seem worth it to gnaw through the leather straps.
Emo PhilipsEmo Philips quote #35