An old legend says that long King Midas hunted in the woods for the wise Silenus, the companion of Dionysus, without capturing him. When he finally fell into his hands, the king asked him what is best and most preferably for humans. Rigid and motionless, silent the Demon was until, forced by the king, just burst into these words, amid raucous laughter: “One day miserable Kindred, children of chance and misery, why do you force me to tell you what would be more advantageous for you not to hear? Best of all is utterly beyond your reach: not to be born, not to be, be nothing. And the next best thing for you is to die soon. “
Friedrich Nietzsche, “The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music”.
Pope with Fan Canopy, By Francis Bacon.









