Three of Wittgenstein’s four brothers died by suicide. He struggled with suicidal thoughts and was likely a closeted gay man in the early 20th century. He served in the front lines of World War I and spent nine months as a prisoner of war.
After inheriting one of the largest Austrian fortunes, he gave it all away.
Wittgenstein was hypercritical of himself. He spent long periods in isolation. His friendships were intense and rife with strain. He was ostracized from a rural Austrian village because he beat a kid he was teaching.
He worked as a Gardner, and in World War II as a hospital porter. His friends/colleagues had to drag him by his feet to convince him to take on prestigious teaching positions at Cambridge. He died from prostate cancer in 1951 at age 62.
By all accounts he lived a tenuous, isolating existence marked with war, death, and intellectual upheaval.
Do you want to know what his last words were?
“Tell them I had a wonderful life.”