The ancient Romans might have preferred that construction. To this day, archaeologists are finding gravestones that read "Non fui. Fui. Non fui. Non curo." I do not exist. I exist. I do not exist. I do not care." The expression was so common that many stones simply abbreviate it: NFFNSNC. The philosophy comes from the Epicureans, who believed that we shouldn't fear death any more than we should fear the time before we were born. I didn't exist then. I exist during life. When I die, I don't exist, so I don't care. If Hamlet had been a good Epicurean, his soliloquy might have ended with: "Whatever."
To exist or be dead, that is the question... just doesn't have the same ring to it.
The ancient Romans might have preferred that construction. To this day, archaeologists are finding gravestones that read "Non fui. Fui. Non fui. Non curo." I do not exist. I exist. I do not exist. I do not care." The expression was so common that many stones simply abbreviate it: NFFNSNC. The philosophy comes from the Epicureans, who believed that we shouldn't fear death any more than we should fear the time before we were born. I didn't exist then. I exist during life. When I die, I don't exist, so I don't care. If Hamlet had been a good Epicurean, his soliloquy might have ended with: "Whatever."
I bet they plucked the petals of a daisy when they said that.