Having one of those days, and was just wondering:
Who is the greater corward, the man who stands on the bridge and jumps, or the one that stands on the bridge but can't?

I would say we have insufficient data. We don't know the circumstances and the motivations.

It's taken me a while to figure out what you meant by this (did I mention that it's one of those days?), but I think I've gotten it... Uh, no I've lost it again. Please explain.

Ok, I see what you mean. Let's put it this way:
You on the bridge. Everything that has happened in your life has led you to the point where you don't think you can handle it anymore. You're scared. You're scared of living or maybe just tired of it, but you're also scared of dying because well, jumping off a bridge isn't easy. Are you a coward if you jump, or are you a coward if you don't?

I don't think there can be one blanket, universal answer. Different people can handle things better than others. It may be that jumping is really the best option, it may be that the person needs a moment to reconsider. To attach a negative epithet like "coward" doesn't help either way. I don't necessarily think either solution necessitates cowardice. It isn't about labeling the person, it's about understanding him.

Interesting answer. Gives me something else to think about.

The one who can't. There is bliss in the abyss.

It's like taking the same situation and asking "Which one is smarter?" Intelligence is, at best, merely tangential to the main issue at hand. We can easily and arbitrarily attribute cowardice or intelligence to one action over another, but it isn't about the action, it's about the person doing (or not doing) the action.

Probably means, that both, are in all of us.

neither man is a coward and No, I don't have dark thoughts! Have a blesses day

The man who jumps. It takes courage to deal with life, it takes a coward to take the easy way out and attempt suicide. Just my honest opinionn though.

clarity gives way to light


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPE2rQunzL0&feature=related

Ditto.

Having been on that bridge myself, I can say for certain that it takes much more courage to keep living than to jump. However, I can also say for certain that life rewards you for that courage eventually.

Both are coward.

The one who didn't jump just due to scare of dying is most coward & he is dead even if he lives.

If he lives the life just as he can't die then he is lively dead & greatest coward.

It is not normal behavior to want to jump off a bridge. There are mental issues there and help needed. Has nothing to do with being a coward. Life can be tough to deal with in certain situations, however, there are always solutions and people who want to help.

Of the two, it's definitely person X who is the greatest coward. Yeah.

One might argue that the other guy is cowarlier, but that argument fails on the third paragraph of the syllogism.

Anyhow. That's what I think.

is it a guaranteed death?
or are you jumping off that bridge over the creek?
i don't understand why people look at death as such a horrible thing.
why can't it be just a choice?
you either want to be alive or you don't.
you either want to go left or you want to go right.
i don't know.
i don't really look at death as a negative thing i suppose.

This makes sense to me.

Suppose there's a terminally ill patient in the hospital, living each moment in excruciating pain. The person wants to die, simply to stop the pain.

Is this person a coward?

Life is not always such a wonderful gift. There are times when it is better to face facts and allow oneself the option of getting it over with.

==========

Many die too late, and some die too early. Yet strange soundeth the precept: "Die at the right time!"

Die at the right time: so teacheth Zarathustra.

To be sure, he who never liveth at the right time, how could he ever die at the right time? Would that he might never be born!--Thus do I advise the superfluous ones.

But even the superfluous ones make much ado about their death, and even the hollowest nut wanteth to be cracked.

Every one regardeth dying as a great matter: but as yet death is not a festival. Not yet have people learned to inaugurate the finest festivals.

The consummating death I show unto you, which becometh a stimulus and promise to the living.

His death, dieth the consummating one triumphantly, surrounded by hoping and promising ones.

Thus should one learn to die; and there should be no festival at which such a dying one doth not consecrate the oaths of the living!

-- Friedrich Nietzsche

I second that!!