‘To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether ’tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep
No more; and by a sleep, to say we end
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks
That Flesh is heir to? ‘Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to Dream; aye, there’s the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There’s the respect
That makes Calamity of so long life:’  (Shakespear’s Hamlet, 1602 )

To be or not to be: the profound question even now. Life and death….Even Shakespeare knew better. The comparison between the pain of life, which he sees as inevitable (the sea of troubles – the slings and arrows – the heart-ache – the thousand natural shocks) and the fear of the uncertainty of death and of possible damnation of suicide.

Pic: Life & death of a Dahlia , Meirion Matthias

Your thoughts?