O Me! O Life!
Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Reader Comments (16)
Empathy and awareness people. Mental illness is all around us. People afflicted need attention and love. Not ambivalence and avoidance.
R.I.P. Robin
As Kixchix said, the brain is a (hugely complex) biological organ and things can, and do, go wrong. If something is wrong, go to the doctor or at very least, talk to someone.
Robin Williams was right up there with all the incredible comic geniuses of all time...
Chaplin, Keaton, Caesar, Sellers, Gleason, Rickles, Cosby, Carney, Winters, Brooks, Carlin, Wilson, Pryor, Belushi, Kaufman, Carey, Please recommend others who are icons of comedy up where Williams belongs.
Gary, I feel you and perspective is your comments here are quite often some of the funniest most insightful and real of all. You are an inspiration and realize that in moments of introspection.
GARY... YOU ROCK, MY METAL BROTHER!
p.s. I, too, lost loved ones in my immediate family to taking their own lives. Understanding and compassion not only for others but ourselves is what needs to be in constant stream of consciousness throughout ones day, every day.
Nuff sed.
God Bless, Williams. One of The Greatest Comic Geniuses of Our Time!
Out of tragedy comes goodness -- finally focus will come to help those in achieving a higher level of understanding about Depression and Parkinsons, etc.
Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx chastised Simmons on his Sixx Sense radio show. "It's pretty moronic because [Simmons] thinks everybody listens to him, that he is the God of Thunder. He will tell you he is the greatest man on earth, and to be honest with you, I like Gene. But in this situation, I don't like Gene. I don’t like Gene's words," Sixx said. "There is a 20-year-old kid out there who is a Kiss fan and reads this and goes, 'You know what? He's right. I should just kill myself.'"
Sixx added, "For people who are depressed, there is a way out. There are many, many ways out. And I don't want people to listen to an interview from a rock star, who's telling you the only way out is out.
And I too am touched by someone's current battle with depression and suicidal thoughts. What is very difficult is trying to get someone to accept help, when they refuse. That is my battle right now.
All the best to you Gary. God bless you and your family.
I've have experienced 3 immediate family members' battles with depression... 2 made it, 1 didn't. All I can say is, never give up. The key is to remind them of their accomplishments and contributions to society, as well as how much more they have to live for.
Someone recently gave me advice that seems to work, as we all get too in our heads sometimes about what really amounts to just stuff. You can either let yourself become a victim of it, allowing it to bring you to your knees, or deal with it and more or less, let it roll off of you.
My friend's advice was simple...
1) Let it go.
2) Get out of the way.
3) Just be.
I guess there's a few ways to interpret that, but I applied it as I translated it and it's working like a charm.
And God Bless Nikki Sixx. So well spoken on this topic, as I sense he's been there. Sixx's wordsmithing in this regard matches his lyrical talents when he's on. Obviously, not so, for $immons. My LOVE/HATE gap with this guy widens with every move and thing he says of late. What a overblown narcissist this guy continues to be.
There are people in the rearview mirror, Gene. Quit backing up and rolling over the bodies! $immons must be afraid they're going to pass him in the fast lane, which, most do, it seems, when it comes to self awareness, mutual respect and integrity -- qualities he, undoubtedly, lacks.
And you're right about Gene. Sometimes I like what he's got to say. Other times, I just shake my head. These comments of his were just about the worst. He got a lot of flack and issued a canned apology because of it. But it is obviously just damage control. Probably too little, too late.