Rik Mayall
September 23, 2008 at 8:17 pm
(This post was last modified: October 5, 2008 at 8:01 pm by Edwardo Piet.)
"I think the best comedians share the philosophical vision expressed in this play (Waiting for Godot). "They give birth astride of a grave..." — that's why you get into comedy — because you have that vision of life, that desperation, and you are telling jokes to avoid thinking about death... If you have no religion and you know you're going to die, you know they'll be nothing else, and you try somehow to avoid that truth... That's what Vladimir and Estragon are doing — passing the time so they don't have to hear all the dead voices." - Rik Mayall - The Independent, September 22, 1991.
I really admire Rik Mayall and I also find it interesting how you can have no religion and therefore not fear death - for the reasons of hell - but still fear death simply because you want to live. I myself also have this fear occasionally because I want to live; not so much anymore because I don't see why I would anymore; and I no long feel it to such an extent that the fear of death makes me feel empty - as it did before - a sort of cold dread. - This dread appears to be what Rik Mayall's describing. I guess I've only ever personally feared death in the past because I want to live much longer than it's currently humanly possible; even forever if I didn't ever get overly bored, distressed (mentally or physically) or lonely. I am now however inspired by what Dawkins said; The improbability of your existence should make you feel grateful; and because you only have one life of limited time, that means you can make the most of it and enjoy it fully.
I have edited this post.... before it contained more Rik Mayall quotes but I realised that even though I'm pretty damn sure he's an atheist...the other quotes themselves didn't really relate particularly to atheism itself. Maybe I should post the others in the off-topic forum?
I really admire Rik Mayall and I also find it interesting how you can have no religion and therefore not fear death - for the reasons of hell - but still fear death simply because you want to live. I myself also have this fear occasionally because I want to live; not so much anymore because I don't see why I would anymore; and I no long feel it to such an extent that the fear of death makes me feel empty - as it did before - a sort of cold dread. - This dread appears to be what Rik Mayall's describing. I guess I've only ever personally feared death in the past because I want to live much longer than it's currently humanly possible; even forever if I didn't ever get overly bored, distressed (mentally or physically) or lonely. I am now however inspired by what Dawkins said; The improbability of your existence should make you feel grateful; and because you only have one life of limited time, that means you can make the most of it and enjoy it fully.
I have edited this post.... before it contained more Rik Mayall quotes but I realised that even though I'm pretty damn sure he's an atheist...the other quotes themselves didn't really relate particularly to atheism itself. Maybe I should post the others in the off-topic forum?
