Emile M. Cioran
Emile M. Cioran
NationalityRomanian
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth8 April 1911
CountryRomania
aphorism midst known
The aphorism is cultivated only by those who have known fear in the midst of words, that fear of collapsing with all the words.
lying formulas corpses
Under each formula lies a corpse.
effort cost able
To live in any true sense of the word is to reject others; to accept them, one must be able to renounce, to do oneself violence, to act against one's own nature, to weaken oneself; we conceive freedom only for ourselves - we extend it to our neighbours only at the cost of exhausting efforts; whence the precariousness of liberalism, a defiance of our instincts, a brief and miraculous success, a state of exception, at the antipodes of our deepest imperatives.
country language
One doesn't live in a country, one lives in a language.
born existence knows
We are born to Exist, not to know, to be, not to assert ourselves.
giving despair void
We define only out of despair, we must have a formula... to give a facade tot he void.
vitality madness stores
We derive our vitality from our store of madness.
doubt disease deep-within
Doubt works deep within you like a disease or, even more effectively, like a faith.
madness appeals difficult
What music appeals to in us it is difficult to know; what we do know is that music reaches a zone so deep that madness itself cannot penetrate there.
civilization obsession moments
A civilization begins to decline the moment Life becomes its sole obsession.
men long soul
It has been a long time since philosophers have read men's souls. It is not their task, we are told. Perhaps. But we must not be surprised if they no longer matter much to us.
enthusiasm resources my-future
My enthusiasms...constitute my reserves, my unexploited resources, perhaps my future.
pride ego flesh
The source of our actions resides in an unconscious propensity to regard ourselves as the center, the cause, and the conclusion of time. Our reflexes and our pride transform into a planet the parcel of flesh and consciousness we are.
change ideas neckties
We change ideas like neckties.