There is no means of proving it is preferable to be than not to be.

A decadent civilization compromises with its disease, cherishes the virus infecting it, loses its self-respect.

Show me one thing here on earth which has begun well and not ended badly. The proudest palpitations are engulfed in a sewer, where they cease throbbing, as though having reached their natural term: this downfall constitutes the heart's drama and the negative meaning of history.