Oh, man. Well, I hope when we die, it’s the same as before we were born. No one’s really frightened of that enormous, infinite blackness before we were born. No one sits there thinking, “Oh, God, how awful. I was nothing.” So I don’t really see why we should be frightened of that after we die, as long as it is black. I really don’t want to be up there on a cloud playing a harp, meeting some of the people I’ve hated in my life. I can’t imagine a greater nightmare. That would be hell, in fact.
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A recurring late-stage question in The Guardian Q&A, with materially different answers on publisher-hosted pages.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 February 2025 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 51 →The contributor to the programme I remember with the most pleasure is the man who said that not existing for thousands and thousands of years before his birth had never worried him for a moment, so why should going back into non-existence at this death cause him dismay? Everyone laughed when he said that and so did I, and as I laughed I thought: “Dead right!”
Twenty-one grams of energy goes into the universe.
Nothing at all.
More from Douglas Booth
View profile →Whenever I walk past an ice-cream shop, I just can’t not buy an ice-cream.
My friend Josie Naughton, the co‑founder and CEO of the charity Choose Love, which supports refugees and displaced people. She left her job working for Coldplay to dedicate her life to this cause.
When people are rude to their waiter.
I’ve learned that true love shouldn’t be complicated. It’s the safety and freedom to be seen and celebrated for who you truly are.
Whenever I’m swimming in the lido at London Fields.
One’s created sense of self is not who you are. The present moment is all we have.
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- What would you like to leave your children? 44 answers
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