Non-existence is not a fact, it is the absence of a fact, it is a derivative
concept pertaining to a relationship, i.e., a concept which can be formed or
grasped only in relation to some existent that has ceased to exist. (One can
arrive at the concept “absence” starting from the concept “presence,” in regard
to some particular existent(s); one cannot arrive at the concept “presence”
starting from the concept “absence,” with the absence including everything.)
Non-existence as such is a zero with no sequence of numbers to follow it, it is
the nothing, the total blank.
Achieving life is not the equivalent of avoiding death. Joy is not “the absence
of pain,” intelligence is not “the absence of stupidity,” light is not “the
absence of darkness,” an entity is not “the absence of a nonentity.” Building
is not done by abstaining from demolition; centuries of sitting and waiting in
such abstinence will not raise one single girder for you to abstain from
demolishing. . . . Existence is not a negation of negatives.