As David Hume put it in discussing suicide, “no man ever threw away life, while it was worth living. For such is our natural horror of death…” Likewise, Schopenhauer believed that “as soon as the terrors of life reach a point at which they outweigh the terrors of death, a man will put an end to his life.
大多数人，特别是杀人犯惧怕死刑，尤其是在杀人后死刑从速而至，几无怀疑。大卫·修姆在谈到自杀时说：“只要还有活头，就没有人会轻生，这是因为惧怕死亡是人之天性”。同样，思科潘诺尔相信“对生活的恐惧一旦超出对死亡的恐惧，人就会轻生。但是死亡的恐惧却会顽强抵抗”。