--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once he had tried to get fired by…" description: "\"“Once he had tried to get fired by recommending suicide in his column. All that Shrike had said was : \"Remember, please, that you job is to increase th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba5/nathanael-west-11471_suicide_once-he-had-tried-to-get-fired-by-recomm_1010217.jpg" --- # Once he had tried to get fired by recommending suicide in… ![“Once he had tried to get fired by recommending suicide in his column. All that Shrike had said was : "Remember, please, that you job is to increase the circulation of our paper. Suicide, it is only reasonable to think, must defeat this purpose".” quote by Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba5/nathanael-west-11471_suicide_once-he-had-tried-to-get-fired-by-recomm_1010217.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba5/nathanael-west-11471_suicide_once-he-had-tried-to-get-fired-by-recomm_1010217.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba5/nathanael-west-11471_suicide_once-he-had-tried-to-get-fired-by-recomm_1010217.jpg) > ““Once he had tried to get fired by recommending suicide in his column. All that Shrike had said was : "Remember, please, that you job is to increase the circulation of our paper. Suicide, it is only reasonable to think, must defeat this purpose".”” [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The absurdity of trying to escape duty leads to paradoxical outcomes, highlighting institutional pressure. **In simple terms:** Escaping duty creates irony. Key Takeaway Question the motives behind actions. Themes absurdity duty irony Mood dark satirical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - journalism - career decisions - personal ethics Key Concepts institutional pressure ethical dilemmas Questions to Reflect On - Why do we seek escape? - What is the true purpose of your work? A Different Perspective Might be overly cynical about institutional motives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Column Shrike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/column-shrike-2189093/) [Recommending Suicide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recommending-suicide-2189091/) [Shrike Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shrike-said-2189090/) [Suicide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suicide/) [Suicide Column](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suicide-column-2189092/) [Suicide Reasonable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suicide-reasonable-2189094/) ## Related quotes > [I often think of death. True. Suicide is a reasonable option. True. My sins are unpardonable. I stare at the question. My sins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frey/i-often-think-of-death-true-suicide-is-a-reasonable-option-true-my/) [James Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frey/) > [ The question is whether \[suicide\] is the way out, or the way in. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-question-is-whether-suicide-is-the-way-out-or-the-way-in/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Why don't you pass the gun around and give everyone a shot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-cooper/why-don-t-you-pass-the-gun-around-and-give-everyone-a-shot/) [Alice Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-cooper/) > [“And thus they form a perfect group; he walks back two or three paces, selects his point of sight, and begins to sketch a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-elizabeth-braddon/and-thus-they-form-a-perfect-group-he-walks-back-two-or-three-paces/) [Mary Elizabeth Braddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-elizabeth-braddon/) > [You don't have to be Sigmund Freud to surmise that war has a perverse appeal for the human race, nor is the attraction limited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/you-don-t-have-to-be-sigmund-freud-to-surmise-that-war-has-a-perverse/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [“No," I say. "I didn't know that," and as I say it I feel flooded with bitterness at all the things Ingrid kept secret…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-lacour/no-i-say-i-didn-t-know-that-and-as-i-say-it-i-feel-flooded-with/) [Nina LaCour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-lacour/) > [“Why do people kill themselves? I think they do it when they can no longer find a reason to keep going. When nothing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beth-miller/why-do-people-kill-themselves-i-think-they-do-it-when-they-can-no/) [Mary Beth Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beth-miller/) > [I lay on my floor crying again¦ shaking. Searching for inner strength and coming up empty. My eyes burned and my mouth was dry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-daniels/i-lay-on-my-floor-crying-again-shaking-searching-for-inner-strength/) [Nathan Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-daniels/) > [“The walls of the cell fell away, the sky came down, I saw the big yellow bird.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/the-walls-of-the-cell-fell-away-the-sky-came-down-i-saw-the-big/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) > [When people are suicidal, their thinking is paralyzed, their options appear spare or nonexistent, their mood is despairing, and hopelessness permeates their entire mental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/when-people-are-suicidal-their-thinking-is-paralyzed-their-options/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [My bodies cold lips are blue why did I do this because of you? I feel the earth below me like a pillow under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nik-is-dead/my-bodies-cold-lips-are-blue-why-did-i-do-this-because-of-you-i-feel/) [Nik Is Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nik-is-dead/) > [If I died If I died tonight would you notice? Would you even care? If I died tonight would you find it humorous? Would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-i-died-if-i-died-tonight-would-you-notice-would-you-even-care-if-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We hear war called murder. It is not; it is suicide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-hear-war-called-murder-it-is-not-it-is-suicide/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm Catholic and I can't commit suicide, but I plan to drink myself to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-m-catholic-and-i-can-t-commit-suicide-but-i-plan-to-drink-myself-to/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [I've always been fascinated by the idea that there's no such thing as evil; it's all in your point of view. To one group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-roth/i-ve-always-been-fascinated-by-the-idea-that-there-s-no-such-thing-as/) [Eli Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-roth/) ## More by Nathanael West > [“Perhaps I can make you understand. Let’s start from the beginning. A man is hired to give advice to the readers of a newspaper.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/perhaps-i-can-make-you-understand-let-s-start-from-the-beginning-a/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [He felt as though his heart were a bomb, a complicated bomb that would result in a simple explosion, wrecking the world without rocking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-felt-as-though-his-heart-were-a-bomb-a-complicated-bomb-that-would/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [He read it for the same reason an animal tears at a wounded foot: to hurt the pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-read-it-for-the-same-reason-an-animal-tears-at-a-wounded-foot-to/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“He Sat in the window thinking. Man has a tropism for order. Keys in one pocket, change in the other. Mandolins are tuned G…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-sat-in-the-window-thinking-man-has-a-tropism-for-order-keys-in-one/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“Love a man even in his sin, for that is the semblance of Divine Love and is the highest love on eath. Love all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/love-a-man-even-in-his-sin-for-that-is-the-semblance-of-divine-love/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [Prayers for the condemned man will be offered on an adding machine. Numbers constitute the only universal language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/prayers-for-the-condemned-man-will-be-offered-on-an-adding-machine/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [Her sureness was based on the power to limit experience arbitrarily.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/her-sureness-was-based-on-the-power-to-limit-experience-arbitrarily/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“But now let us consider the holes in our own bodies and into what these congenital wounds open. Under the skin of man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/but-now-let-us-consider-the-holes-in-our-own-bodies-and-into-what/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [You once said to me that I talk like a man in a book. I not only talk, but think and feel like one.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/you-once-said-to-me-that-i-talk-like-a-man-in-a-book-i-not-only-talk/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“Art Is One if Life's Richest Offerings. For those who have not the talent to create, there is appreciation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/art-is-one-if-life-s-richest-offerings-for-those-who-have-not-the/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“He's an escapist. He wants to cultivate his interior garden.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-s-an-escapist-he-wants-to-cultivate-his-interior-garden/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“His mouth formed an O with lips torn angry in laying duck's eggs from a chicken's rectum.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/his-mouth-formed-an-o-with-lips-torn-angry-in-laying-duck-s-eggs-from/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [Only those who still have hope can benefit from tears. When they finish, they feel better. But to those without hope, whose anguish is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/only-those-who-still-have-hope-can-benefit-from-tears-when-they/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [At college, and perhaps for a year afterwards, they had believed in literature, had believed in Beauty and in personal expression as an absolute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/at-college-and-perhaps-for-a-year-afterwards-they-had-believed-in/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“It was very sad under the trees. Although spring was well advanced, in the deep shade there was nothing but death-rotten leaves, gray and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/it-was-very-sad-under-the-trees-although-spring-was-well-advanced-in/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) [Explore all 58 Nathanael West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) ## More Suicide quotes > [I've always been fascinated by the idea that there's no such thing as evil; it's all in your point of view. To one group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-roth/i-ve-always-been-fascinated-by-the-idea-that-there-s-no-such-thing-as/) [Eli Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-roth/) > [I'm Catholic and I can't commit suicide, but I plan to drink myself to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-m-catholic-and-i-can-t-commit-suicide-but-i-plan-to-drink-myself-to/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [We hear war called murder. It is not; it is suicide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-hear-war-called-murder-it-is-not-it-is-suicide/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If I died If I died tonight would you notice? Would you even care? If I died tonight would you find it humorous? Would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-i-died-if-i-died-tonight-would-you-notice-would-you-even-care-if-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My bodies cold lips are blue why did I do this because of you? I feel the earth below me like a pillow under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nik-is-dead/my-bodies-cold-lips-are-blue-why-did-i-do-this-because-of-you-i-feel/) [Nik Is Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nik-is-dead/) > [When people are suicidal, their thinking is paralyzed, their options appear spare or nonexistent, their mood is despairing, and hopelessness permeates their entire mental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/when-people-are-suicidal-their-thinking-is-paralyzed-their-options/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [“The walls of the cell fell away, the sky came down, I saw the big yellow bird.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/the-walls-of-the-cell-fell-away-the-sky-came-down-i-saw-the-big/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) > [I lay on my floor crying again¦ shaking. Searching for inner strength and coming up empty. My eyes burned and my mouth was dry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-daniels/i-lay-on-my-floor-crying-again-shaking-searching-for-inner-strength/) [Nathan Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-daniels/) > [“Why do people kill themselves? I think they do it when they can no longer find a reason to keep going. When nothing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beth-miller/why-do-people-kill-themselves-i-think-they-do-it-when-they-can-no/) [Mary Beth Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beth-miller/) > [“No," I say. "I didn't know that," and as I say it I feel flooded with bitterness at all the things Ingrid kept secret…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-lacour/no-i-say-i-didn-t-know-that-and-as-i-say-it-i-feel-flooded-with/) [Nina LaCour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-lacour/) > [You don't have to be Sigmund Freud to surmise that war has a perverse appeal for the human race, nor is the attraction limited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/you-don-t-have-to-be-sigmund-freud-to-surmise-that-war-has-a-perverse/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [“And thus they form a perfect group; he walks back two or three paces, selects his point of sight, and begins to sketch a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-elizabeth-braddon/and-thus-they-form-a-perfect-group-he-walks-back-two-or-three-paces/) [Mary Elizabeth Braddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-elizabeth-braddon/) > [Why don't you pass the gun around and give everyone a shot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-cooper/why-don-t-you-pass-the-gun-around-and-give-everyone-a-shot/) [Alice Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-cooper/) > [ The question is whether \[suicide\] is the way out, or the way in. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-question-is-whether-suicide-is-the-way-out-or-the-way-in/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“I want him to live if HE wants to live. If he doesn't, then by forcing him to carry on, you, me… we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jojo-moyes/i-want-him-to-live-if-he-wants-to-live-if-he-doesn-t-then-by-forcing/) [Jojo Moyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jojo-moyes/) [Browse all 3,631 Suicide quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suicide/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Once he had tried to get fired by recommending suicide in his column. All that Shrike had said was : \"Remember, please, that you job is to increase the circulation of our paper. 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