On Being Immortal

“What’s your greatest ambition? To become immortal, and then die.”

I think that’s the coolest line ever from Breathless, a 1960 film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Too often we are being caught up in the routines of our daily lives that we forget that we are going to die someday. While some others are too busy carving their names in the history of humanity, in other words, trying to be immortal in the sense that they will not be forgotten.

If I had to choose between being mortal and being immortal, I will gladly choose to be a mortal being. I can imagine how lonely life will be to live a 1000 year life. How we will be left alone, while other people in our lives, friends, lovers, families already passed away. Living such longevity is not a grace, but torture to the mind.

It would also be a wonderful idea if we can choose the method of how we want to end our lives. I personally admire people who have the courage to commit suicide. It is a courage action which not all people could put into a decision. There are many people who really want to die but have no courage to take their own lives, so being able to choose how one ends his/her life must be a noble act.