One of the first signs of the beginnings of understanding is the wish to die. This life appears unbearable, another unattainable. One is no longer ashamed of wanting to die; one asks to be moved from the old cell, which one hates, to a new one, which one will only in time come to hate.
Bio: Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson, M.A., M.D., LL.D., F.R.S. was an eminent British physician, anaesthetist, physiologist, sanitarian, and a prolific writer on medical history.