The date of death is listed here as 3 March 1983, when the bodies of Koestler and his third wife were found by their maid. A suicide note left by the pair instructed her to contact the police. Many sources list 1 March 1983 as the date of death, because they ingested lethal amounts of drugs on that date and are believed to have died that day. Koestler suffered from Parkinson's disease and leukemia. His wife was believed to be in good health, but could not face life without him.

[1961] I loathe processed bread in cellophane, processed towns of cement and glass, and the Bible processed as a comic-strip; I loathe crooners andswooners, quizzes and fizzes, neon and subtopia, the Organization Manand the Reader's Digest. But who coerced us into buying all this? TheUnited States do not rule Europe as the British ruled India; they wagedno Opium War against us to force their revolting "Coke" down ourthroats. Europe bought the whole package because it wanted it. TheAmericans did not Americanize us -- they were merely one step ahead onthe road towards a global civilization with a standardized style ofliving which, whether we like it or not, is beginning to emerge allover the world. For we live in a state of cultural osmosis whereinfluences percolate across the porous frontiers, native traditionswane, and the movement towards a uniform, mechanized, stereotypedculture-pattern has become irresistible.