To sacrifice the world to paradise is to let slip the prey for the shadow.
Be the dupe of the infinite! I'm not such a fool.
I am a nought.
I call myself Monsieur le Comte Nought, senator.
Did I exist before my birth?
No. Shall I exist after death?
No. What am I?
A little dust collected in an organism. What am I to do on this earth?
The choice rests with me: suffer or enjoy.
Whither will suffering lead me?
To nothingness; but I shall have suffered.
Whither will enjoyment lead me? To nothingness; but I shall have enjoyed myself.
My choice is made. One must eat or be eaten.
I shall eat.
It is better to be the tooth than the grass.
Such is my wisdom.
After which, go whither I push thee, the grave-digger is there; the Pantheon for some of us: all falls into the great hole.
End.
Finis.
Total liquidation. This is the vanishing-point. Death is death, believe me. I laugh at the idea of there being any one who has anything to tell me on that subject.