If you take your own life, are you exhibiting cowardice or courage?

Question

Suicide is the easy way out of a difficult life or situation.

But at the same time, to commit it, you must have a lot of courage to willingly throw yourself off a skyscraper or slit your own wrists.

I know I wouldn't be able to, even if I wanted to.

Answer 1

...self elimination of life...is self generated...lack of imagination for life...

Answer 2

It is considered cowardice if it is done primarily to escape responsibilities or liabilities. It is however considered courage if it is done to save another life or some such greater unselfish objective. Obviously, it is the reason behind the suicide that determines whether it is an act of cowardice or courage.

Answer 3

our judgment will not be accurate, for only the one who committed suicide may know, although there is not much analysis would be made while flying down from skyscraper...To know exactly what are you exhibiting you must throw yourself off a skyscraper with a black box attached to your a*s*s*

Answer 4

Taking one's own life is really a courage but a selfish one.

Answer 5

It doesn't take courage to hurt ourselves. People do it all the time just in different ways. Some people have no problem hurting themselves physically so suicide is just the next step. So I have to say it is cowardice to kill yourself. It takes courage to live. I wouldn't be able to kill myself either, but it's not because I couldn't. I enjoy pleasure too much.

Answer 6

[bear with me, this is long but very important]

As soon as I saw your question I had to click on it.

I have very strong opinions on this because I have struggled with suicidal thoughts for the past 2 years. I would not say that committing suicide is cowardly at all. To an average human I could see how it could look that way because they most likely haven't been through what someone who is thinking about committing suicide has been through. I've had severe depression for 2 years and I was watching a movie with some friends one night. At the end of the movie it shows the mother thinking about killing herself because her child has died and one of my friends said

"What the heck, why would she do that? Doesn't she want to be there for her husband?"

Let me just say, that made me so mad because she has NO idea what is going through one's mind when they are thinking about something like that. When you're that depressed your brain chemicals are not normal and therefore you don't usually think or act rationally. Things that would usually seem dangerous or scary become no big deal because your brain cannot function normally. Your inhibitions are extremely low which can seriously impair your common sense.

To sum that all up, I would say courage. Death is one of the most common fears humans have and to face that full on because of your own decision takes a lot of guts.

Answer 7

cowardice for taking the easy way out... most people who commit suicide are not brave. true, they slit their on wrist, jump off a building etc. but i don't think they're thinking straight when they do that - that's not courage if you do things without thinking straight... *do i make sense..? :)*

Answer 8

I think it's cowardice, but mostly just sad desperation. Anyone can kill themselves, but it takes alot more courage to stand up to a certain situation, fight it, and overcome it. I think that's courageous and once you overcome it, makes you stronger.

Answer 9

There is nothing more to which a man has a more unassailable right than to his own life. If he wants to commit suicide, he does so. It requires courage, indeed. Also, the act is not left up to the judgment or opinions (or censure) of society, as when they say "He was a coward for..." Judgments are made to alter or influence the actions of others; but suicide is a final, unalterable action.

Truth be told, the expression that is made to society in the act of suicide is this: "I [the one who commits the act] do not care about your opinions or judgments, nor do I wish to partake in your prejudices and policies and such. The consummation, and success, of my action [of suicide] makes clear how worthless your assessments of actions are; your judgments produce no change, no effect, no force--all nugatory! Upon the completion of the act [of suicide], it is made evident that the pressure, opinions, judgments, censure, etc. of all society amounts to no more than a topic of discussion. I have prevailed and exercised my right, and you still have nothing better to do than point the finger and denounce, if only to console yourselves of your own plight."

The point I'm trying to make is that people's judgment of the value of suicide--whether it is cowardice or courage--is irrelevant. The last thing a person who commits suicide could care about is the judgment people place on his action. In other words, he couldn't care less at that point.

I'm not saying suicide is right or wrong. But to speculate on the value of suicide is silly. Everyone has the right to kill themselves. Should they? I don't have the answer to that question; but I don't think, in general, they should.

Good luck

Answer 10

Personally I feel it takes equal courage to end one's life as it takes to deal with the difficulties in living...But sometimes the scales get tilted and a person is driven by desperation to such a point that s/he stops thinking/feeling.  Many people have second thoughts about committing the act...so you can say death scares them more.

Whichever way you see,  it is extremely unfortunate position to be in!!!

Answer 11

I think people who committ suicide are in such a delusional, abnormal and disconnected state of mind that they don't care or realise what they are doing. I wouldn't think it has anything to do with having courage because when they are ending their lives, the only thing on their minds is to do just that, there's probably no fear in them, just the need to go.... I personally believe that the real courage would be to continue living life, regardless of the 'h**l' you may be living, and work towards changing and creating a better life for yourself. That's courageous to me.  

Answer 12

An instant of courage could not out weight a life time of cowardice.

Answer 13

i dont think it ONLY one thing. it might be courage in doing so but cowardliness in avoiding what he is avoiding