Dispute over Suicide

Around 1850 B.C. an anonymous author wrote a text on his papyrus scroll which in content and style has a very modern ring to it. The essay has achieved literary fame under the title "A Dispute over Suicide“. It takes a critical look at an age in which egoism and greed reign, and leads its author to the inevitable conclusion that there is only one way out -- voluntary self-destruction.

To whom shall I speak today? Hearts are rapacious, one can rely on no man's heart.
To whom shall I speak today? There are no upright men, the world is left to those who perpetrate injustice.
To whom shall I speak today? There are no friends, one must resort to strangers to confide one's discontent.
To whom shall I speak today? No one is contented any more, and the friend who once was is no more.
To whom shall I speak today? The evil that smites the world – it has no end.
Death stands before me today like healing before one who is sick, like stepping into freedom after suffering.
Death stands before me today like the scent of incense,like sitting under a sail on a day of wind.
Death stands before me today like the perfume of lotus blossoms,like living on the edge of drunkenness.
Death stands before me today< like the rain stopping, like the return home of a man from war.
Death stands before me today like the desire of a man to see his home againafter being in prison for so many years.