Emile M. Cioran

Emile M. Cioran
NationalityRomanian
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth8 April 1911
CountryRomania
enemy gates
A distant enemy is always preferable to one at the gate.
philosophy enemy enough
It is enough for me to hear someone talk sincerely about ideals, about the future, about philosophy, to hear him say “we" with a certain inflection of assurance, to hear him invoke "others" and regard himself as their interpreter - for me to consider him my enemy.
enemy ends decided
I have decided not to oppose anyone ever again, since I have noticed that I always end by resembling my latest enemy.
soul sadism skepticism
Skepticism is the sadism of embittered souls.
people normal forget
Normal people have nothing to forget.
speaks
Anyone who speaks in the name of others is always an imposter.
fear history result ultimately
Isn't history ultimately the result of our fear of boredom?
freedom merely
For you who no longer posses it, freedom is everything, for us who do, it is merely an illusion.
Sperm is a bandit in its pure state.
reality silence despair
After having struggled madly to solve all problems, after having suffered on the heights of despair, in the supreme hour of revelation, you will find that the only answer, the only reality, is silence.
powerful blow brain
Only those moments count, when the desire to remain by yourself is so powerful that you'd prefer to blow your brains out than exchange a word with someone.
goal weak states
To live entirely without a goal! I have glimpsed this state, and have often attained it, without managing to remain there: I am too weak for such happiness.
vanity trying gang
I try--without success--to stop finding reasons for vanity in anything. When I happen to manage it nonetheless, I feel that I no longer belong to the mortal gang. I am above everything then, above the gods themselves. Perhaps that is what death is: a sensation of great, of extreme superiority.
interest spread misfortunes
We interest others by the misfortune we spread around us.