# Will George Harrison dying make YOU quit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2001, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117 "2001-11-30T13:58:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Buck\_The\_Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Buck\_The\_Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_The_Diver)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/1 "2001-11-30T13:58:19Z")
I’ll probably get ripped a new asshole for this, but here goes… George fell over dead today. Everybody knows why and how he died. He smoked like a frigging fiend. This lead to a long, drawn-out and miserable demise. Is this event going to cause any Dopers to swear off the lung rockets? Buck The Diver “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation” ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/2 "2001-11-30T14:11:24Z")
I had an uncle and have an aunt who both started smoking at age 12. When they were in their mid 70’s, their doctor told them they should quit because smoking could shorten their lives… Smoking, while not exactly healthy for everyone - especially with all the additives and chemicals the tobacco companies put in cigarettes - is not automatically the cause of all cancer, or sickness. And to assume that George Harrison’s illness was directly caused by smoking is just plain silly. BTW - Other than a nice $7 cigar a few times a year, I don’t smoke. ---
**Author:** ![SlickUSA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@SlickUSA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickUSA)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/3 "2001-11-30T14:13:32Z")
His dying is just a further push for me to NOT start to being with. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/4 "2001-11-30T14:14:08Z")
Sarah Brady—James’ wife—recently had a news conference where she says she has lung cancer and STILL can’t quit smoking. I don’t think fright as an incentive is strong enough to kick THAT addiction. As someone who has trouble staying away from ice cream, I don’t know how ANYONE manages to quit smokimg. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/5 "2001-11-30T15:04:10Z")
It’s irrelevant to me, because I quit in March, however I don’t think it would have made me quit. I continued to smoke despite knowing that smoking kills - who can avoid that message in today’s world? - because I feared that I wouldn’t be strong enough to give it away. After years of wanting to stop but making no moves to do so, one day I put them down and I’ve never picked them up again. It didn’t take anyone dying to make me quit - it took sheer bloodymindedness and determination. Someone else dying would have made me depressed about being a smoker, but it wouldn’t have made me quit. George Harrison died today of cancer, aged 58. Smoker. My highschool boyfriend’s mother died 19-NOV-2001 of cancer, aged 51. Non-smoker. My brother’s friend’s mother died 10-OCT-1997 of cancer, aged 63. Non-smoker. My great grandmother died 21-SEP-1989 of a short illness, aged 94. Smoker. Nothing in life is a guarantee. My brother’s friend’s mother used to brag that she’d never even sampled a cigarette, even though the other girls at school all smoked. She didn’t know the dangers of smoking, she just wanted to be different. Her son was a smoker, and had quit, but the day she died of cancer he took it up again - he asked what the point was when his mother didn’t smoke and died anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Kiki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kiki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiki)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/6 "2001-11-30T15:34:33Z")
No, George’s death will not make me quit smoking. I understand that it’s not the healthiest of habits but neither is drinking and thousands of people die because of that everyday too. My dad has been a smoker for over 40 years and he’s healthy… mild diabetes and had a heart attack in June but neither is related to his smoking. His dad smoked for 45 years and quit and a few years after he quit he developed emphysema and had to live with that for the last 14 years before he died last November. The only thing that has made me quit is pregnancy and I started smoking 6 months after each birth. I plan on becoming pregnant for the 3rd time next year in which I will give up the cigarettes prior to the pregnancy and I will not start up again after that baby is born. If I can quit for a year for the sake of my baby(s) I can quit forever for the sake of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Sophie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@Sophie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophie)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/7 "2001-11-30T15:39:21Z")
No, but having kids will. I’m down to about ten smokes a day now because I don’t smoke around the kids or in the house any more. So, neener neener neener. I’m working on it. Unless you’ve been addicted to it, you can’t understand how difficult it is to quit. So, I expect that I ought to balloon up to about 300 pounds the day I quit, but hey, smoking’s bad for me, right? This is touchy subject for me. A thousand pardons. ---
**Author:** ![jellen92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@jellen92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellen92)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/8 "2001-11-30T16:03:39Z")
I almost avoided reading the articles about Ringo because I didn’t want to hear it - a smoker who died of cancer at 58. Won’t make me quit though… considering I only smoke about 7 a day, I so enjoy smoking I don’t know if I could give it up… I’m very frightened to gain 60 lbs. as opposed to living a shorter life. Sad commentary I guess, but true. ---
**Author:** ![jellen92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@jellen92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellen92)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/9 "2001-11-30T16:04:48Z")
Sheesh - Not Ringo, I meant GEORGE! Crimany, guess I better cut back on the a.m. drinking too… ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Crunch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@Chief\_Crunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Crunch)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/10 "2001-11-30T16:20:14Z")
Of course it will. I used to think I was invulnerable to a gunshot wound to the chest until John Lennon died. I mean, c’mon! DUH! Only celebrities can make one aware of his or her mortality. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/11 "2001-11-30T16:20:58Z")
I wish I could say it would make me quit. My own mum had lung cancer too. I just wish I’d never started in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/12 "2001-11-30T16:29:14Z")
Nope, not a chance in hell. As for the longer life thing…My mom has smoked around me my entire life. They removed a ton of asbestos from the elementary school I attended for 7 years (pre-k to fifth grade) right after I left. No one in my immediate family has ever lived past 65. So the odds are already sort of stacked against me and my lungs. I do plan to quit after college, when I join the Peace Corps, but right now, I find too much comfort and solace in a quick smoke to stop anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/13 "2001-11-30T16:48:21Z")
Let me just paraphrase what one of my smoker friends told me _smoking is one of the most selfish things person can do_ ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/14 "2001-11-30T17:12:37Z")
Ummm, no. But I’m going to agree with **Enuma Elish** and say that it _is_ pretty silly of you to automatically assume it was smoking. Sure, smoking _can possibly_ cause all kinds of things. But that doesn’t mean that every smoker that dies died **because** they smoked. Didn’t he have a brain tumor, too? And thanks to **cazzle** for pointing out that non-smokers die, too. ---
**Author:** ![milo\_minderbinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@milo\_minderbinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milo_minderbinder)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/15 "2001-11-30T18:01:41Z")
Not as long as Keith Richards continues to defy the odds… 😉 Having said that, the tragic and untimely death of [Joey Dunlop](http://www.mcb.net/ttraces/tt/joey/joey.html) did play a part in my decision to quit riding street bikes, so I’m sure someone is flushing a pack down the kharzi right now. milo. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/16 "2001-11-30T18:14:22Z")
To put it bluntly, I am already aware the smoking will probably kill me, but that’s not enough incentive to quit. For many smokers it’s the same, and no number of celebrity deaths is goint to change that basic fact. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/17 "2001-11-30T18:33:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > **…she has lung cancer and STILL can’t quit smoking.** My grandmother died of lung cancer. But not before having a lung removed due to the tumors. And she smoked in the car on the way to the hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/18 "2001-11-30T18:39:31Z")
This thread just goes to show how people will lie to themselves when they don’t want to hear the truth. Rather than accept the medically proven studies that prove smoking greatly increases your chances of cancer and a dozen other unpleasant afflictions, people prefer to comfort themselves with meaningless personal anecdotes about “great uncle Bill who smoked 30 a day and lived to 93”. For every "great uncle Bill"s there are a 1000 others who die prematurely with diseases directly relating to their smoking habit. Smoking causes and contributes to much more than just lung cancer and Harrison himself attributed his cancers to smoking. No doubt with his money he could reach that conclusion after consultation with the best doctors in the business. ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Baroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/76d3ee/32.png) [@Billy\_Baroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Baroo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/19 "2001-11-30T18:49:07Z")
Or you could smoke all you like and get gunned down in front of your flat anyway. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tretiak \* > \*\* Let me just paraphrase what one of my smoker friends told me > > smoking is one of the most selfish things person can do\*\* Wow I didn’t know you knew Ghandi. Tell him Hi. My mom got me to quit a while back with an article penned by Yul Brenner as he wasted away with cancer. I can’t remember what he wrote, but it was really persuasive. She keeps threatening to force it on me again, but sadly I don’t think it would work anymore. I’m not as afraid of death as I used to be. ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117/20 "2001-11-30T21:54:55Z")
> [@](#): > > This thread just goes to show how people will lie to themselves when they don’t want to hear the truth. > > Rather than accept the medically proven studies that prove smoking greatly increases your chances of cancer and a dozen other unpleasant afflictions, people prefer to comfort themselves with meaningless personal anecdotes about “great uncle Bill who smoked 30 a day and lived to 93”. For every "great uncle Bill"s there are a 1000 others who die prematurely with diseases directly relating to their smoking habit. Luckily, it’s a choice every person gets to make. I’m well aware of the consequences of my smoking, but I choose to do it anyway. I would defy you to find one single person on this Board who believes smoking is not a health risk. Everyone I know is aware of it - how could they not be? But we do it anyway. Just like people who drink and drive, or do drugs like heroin and crack, or sell drugs, or drive really dangerously, or refuse to go to the doctor even though they’re sick, or cross streets without looking both ways, or a million others stupid things you can do to end your life prematurely. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-harrison-dying-make-you-quit/96117.md?page=2)