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: Elizabeth Jill Filkin is a British public functionary and former civil servant. She was the United Kingdom's Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards between February 1999 and 2002.
