Hitchens: It’s not for everybody. Not everyone wants to always be an outcast or out of step or against the stream. But if you do feel that the consensus doesn’t speak for you, if there’s something about you that makes you feel that it would be worth being unpopular or marginal for the chance to lead your own life and have a life instead of a career or a job, then I can promise you it is worthwhile, yes.
CHARLIE ROSE: What’s the worst part of it(Cancer)? Is it -- it puts some
sense of mortality in your focus?
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: No, because I think the focus on mortality is a
useful thing to have, and that’s why I begin my book with it. You should
always know--
CHARLIE ROSE: Before you knew.
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: -- that your time is very limited, and that
you’re lucky to live in a time and place where you can be healthy until
you’re 60, as I was. Most people in history never had a chance even to
hope for a thing like that. So, no for the avoidance of hubris, I think
it’s good to have a sober feeling of the presence of death.
CHARLIE ROSE: What’s the worst part of it(Cancer)? Is it -- it puts some
sense of mortality in your focus?
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: No, because I think the focus on mortality is a
useful thing to have, and that’s why I begin my book with it. You should
always know--
CHARLIE ROSE: Before you knew.
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: -- that your time is very limited, and that
you’re lucky to live in a time and place where you can be healthy until
you’re 60, as I was. Most people in history never had a chance even to
hope for a thing like that. So, no for the avoidance of hubris, I think
it’s good to have a sober feeling of the presence of death.
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