Scribbled in my philosophy 100 notebook...
Sartre calls anguish the weight of man's decision making. I extend this to say that anguish is man's overestimation of his importance in the grand scheme of things (i.e. eternity). Anguish is the necessary element to motivate man to make decisions. If 10 men die, it is insignificant; but if 10 men die as a result of man's decision, or if man's decision could have prevented these deaths, or if man's decision caused the deaths, and so on, then he believes his choices to be significant. This illusion is anguish.
"A whole train of passengers (individually brave enough), will be looted by a few highwaymen, simply because the latter can count on one another, while each passenger fears that if he makes a movement of resistance, he will be shot before anyone else backs him up."
-William James, The Will to Believe
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