--- description: British novelist Matt Haig wrote a post on suicide on the anniversary of the death of Robin Williams title: 'Suicide Is Not Selfish': Author on Robin Williams' Death image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5bdebf737a455be9/6988a208fb4eac771088eb67/robin-williams-suicide-death-anniversary-depression.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [society](/tag/society/) ## society Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'Suicide Is Not Selfish': Author Posts on Death of Robin Williams by [IDEAS Desk](/author/ideas-desk/) ## IDEAS Desk Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 11, 2016 6:12 PM CUT  The actor and comedian Robin Williams, who committed suicide on August 11, 2014 The actor and comedian Robin Williams, who committed suicide on August 11, 2014Jay Paul—Getty Images by [IDEAS Desk](/author/ideas-desk/) ## IDEAS Desk Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 11, 2016 6:12 PM CUT Two years ago, the comedian and actor [Robin Williams killed himself in his home](http://time.com/3106206/robin-williams-dead-time-cover/ "undefined"). The death of a man who created such joy struck millions of people especially hard. He was only 63\. Many felt as if he had much more happiness to share. On the anniversary of his death, Matt Haig, author of [_Reasons To Stay Alive_](https://www.amazon.com/Reasons-Stay-Alive-Matt-Haig/dp/1782115080/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined"), posted a remembrance of not just Robin Williams but a condemnation of the response, which was nestled in the belief that somehow depression would be more discriminating—that it wouldn’t infect someone who smiled so much. Haig writes of the collective question, “And if the clowns—the people there to cope with the process of existing—find it too hard, then what is the hope for the rest of us?” But that question comes from the wrong assumptions, Haig points out. Including Williams, he writes that it is important we remember other things, too: --- > “” --- Haig encourages people to resist the impulse to make anyone’s suicide about themselves—about them losing a source of glee or an example of how to be. Instead he encourages greater empathy for everyone—even those we don’t suspect are struggling—because, as he concludes, “We never know. We never know.” Here is Haig’s full statement: > [](https://twitter.com/matthaig1/status/763712866016985088) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4448763/robin-williams-suicide/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4448763/robin-williams-suicide/"},"headline":"'Suicide Is Not Selfish': Author Posts on Death of Robin Williams","datePublished":"2016-08-11T18:12:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:55:57.637Z","description":"British novelist Matt Haig wrote a post on suicide on the anniversary of the death of Robin Williams","url":"https://time.com/4448763/robin-williams-suicide/","keywords":["society"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5bdebf737a455be9/6988a208fb4eac771088eb67/robin-williams-suicide-death-anniversary-depression.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"IDEAS Desk","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ideas-desk/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5bdebf737a455be9/6988a208fb4eac771088eb67/robin-williams-suicide-death-anniversary-depression.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Robin Williams","caption":"Robin Williams","creditText":"Jay Paul—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/society/","name":"society"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4448763/robin-williams-suicide/","name":"'Suicide Is Not Selfish': Author Posts on Death of Robin Williams"}}]}] ```