pessimistic/nihilistic thinkers thread

[Viva June]

Jakob Elias Poritzky is a recent discovery of mine. The "preface" to his debut collection of interlinked stories reads as follows (allowing for the usual reservations regarding my translation skills):

I preach the pitifulness of life. And if you are repulsed by life and have reached the zenith of misery in disgust, and if your soul is so overburdened that it threatens to shatter and you would prefer to put a bullet through your temple so as to escape into the insensible void, then read my book. It will be a comfort to you in that it will increase your suffering. You understand — — —

The book hardly counts as proper philosophy, but I think the sentiment expressed in the above quote is a neat encapsulation of the usefulness of pessimism.