Quotes: 'Best never to have been born'

Now, then, Silenus, since you are so wise, come, tell me, is it really the best fate for a man to be drunk always?" ... "Not at all. Drunkenness is a joy reserved for the Gods : so do men partake of it impiously, and so are they very properly punished for their audacity. For men, it is best of all never to be born;but,being born, to die very quickly ."..."Ah, yes! but failing either?"..."The third best thing for a man is to do that which seems expected of him," -Silenus.

"Sophocles in Oedipus at Colonus...wrote the famous and frightening lines: 'Not to be born prevails over all meaning uttered in words; by far the second best for life, once it has appeared, is to go as swiftly as possible whence it came.' There he also let us know through the mouth of Theseus, the legendary founder of Athens and hence her spokesman, what it was that enabled ordinary men, young and old, to bear life's burden: it was the polis, the space of men's free deeds and living words, which could endow life with splendour..." [Arendt, On Revolution, final lines]

"An old legend has it that King Midas hunted a long time in the woods for the wise Silenus, companion of Dionysos,without being able to catch him. When he finally had caught him the king asked him what he considered man's greatest good. The daeomon remained sullen and uncommunicative until finally, forced by the king, he broke into a shrill laugh and spoke: 'Ephemeral wretch, begotten by accident and toil, why do you force me to tell you what it would be your greatest boon not to hear? What would be best for you is quite beyond your reach: not to have been born, not to be, to be nothing. But the second best is to die soon." [Nietzsche, Birth of Tragedy]

"If you could edit your past, what would you change?"

"My birth. I agree with Sophocles: the greatest luck is not to have been born - but, as the joke goes on, very few people succeed in it. [Zizek, interview]"