Single Idea 23860

[catalogued under 25. Social Practice / F. Life Issues / 4. Suicide]

Full Idea

A man who is thrown overboard in the middle of the ocean ought not to let himself drown, even though there is very litte chance of his reaching safety, but to go on swimming till exhausted.

Gist of Idea

Even if a drowning man is doomed, he should keep swimming to the last

Source

Simone Weil (Prospects: Proletarian Revolution? [1933], p.21)

Book Reference

Weil,Simone: 'Oppression and Liberty' [Routledge 1955], p.21


A Reaction

You might survive a little longer if you don't exhaust yourself! Not clear where her authority for 'ought' comes from, but it expresses an interesting attitude.