However much I have frequented the mystics, deep down I have always sided with the Devil; unable to equal him in power, I have tried to be worthy of him, at least, in insolence, acrimony, arbitrariness and caprice.
Emil Cioran
Related Not everyone has the time to be normal. LJUPKA CVETANOVA I know there is a God because in Rwanda I shook hands with the devil. I have seen him, I have smelle... ROMEO DALLAIRE I have the right to remain violente. Everything I say can and will be used against you. EMINEM I have learned to be patient. YUAN YUAN TAN I'm very drawn to Eastern Europe, so I like a Hungarian writer who wrote in French called Emil C... DYLAN MORAN I have learned to delegate. GWEN STEFANI You can BE, DO, and HAVE ...absolutely ANYTHING you really, really want to BE, DO, and HAVE. LORRIN L. LEE When it comes to the president, we have to respect him, we have to protect him, and we have to corre... TAVIS SMILEY Words have a taste, sweet but subtle, like dark chocolate; the scent of old bookshops; a flamenco rh... CHLOE THURLOW Pathetic is when you assume the worst, because you are incapable of thinking beyond your own mental ... EMMA PAUL Those who hate, are merely wallowing in self pity. Those who lie about someone to destroy his or her... EMMA PAUL Words have power," Isaac answered. Words begin and end wars. They create and destroy families. They ... LORI HANDELAND Don't do it, because you have to do it.
Do it, because you love to do it. PRITISH PATTANAIK To learn, sometimes you have to feel the fool. JEFFREY FRY Mark My Words, My Words In Other Words Are Not Just Words. SYED SHARUKH Words do not create change as much as example does. Be the example BRENT M. JONES It's all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you're properly trained. QUEEN ELIZABETH II Like all best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and... QUEEN ELIZABETH II My husband has quite simply been my strength and stay all these years, and I owe him a debt greater ... QUEEN ELIZABETH II It is easy enough to define what the Commonwealth is not. Indeed this is quite a popular pastime. QUEEN ELIZABETH II I have to be seen to be believed. QUEEN ELIZABETH II I have in sincerity pledged myself to your service, as so many of you are pledged to mine. Throughou... QUEEN ELIZABETH II I hope that tomorrow we can all, wherever we are, join in expressing our grief at Diana's loss, ... QUEEN ELIZABETH II I myself prefer my New Zealand eggs for breakfast. QUEEN ELIZABETH II The British constitution has always been puzzling and always will be. QUEEN ELIZABETH II I have behind me not only the splendid traditions and the annals of more than a thousand years but t... QUEEN ELIZABETH II To what greater inspiration and counsel can we turn than to the imperishable truth to be found in th... QUEEN ELIZABETH II What were once only hopes for the future have now come to pass; it is almost exactly 13 years since ... QUEEN ELIZABETH II First, I want to pay tribute to Diana myself. She was an exceptional and gifted human being. In good... QUEEN ELIZABETH II I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something e... QUEEN ELIZABETH II To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past I extend my sincere thoughts an... QUEEN ELIZABETH II Grief is the price we pay for love. QUEEN ELIZABETH II The upward course of a nation's history is due in the long run to the soundness of heart of its ... QUEEN ELIZABETH II At its heart, engineering is about using science to find creative, practical solutions. It is a nobl... QUEEN ELIZABETH II At Christmas, I am always struck by how the spirit of togetherness lies also at the heart of the Chr... QUEEN ELIZABETH II For many, Christmas is also a time for coming together. But for others, service will come first. QUEEN ELIZABETH II The lessons from the peace process are clear; whatever life throws at us, our individual responses w... QUEEN ELIZABETH II I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your s... QUEEN ELIZABETH II Therefore I am sure that this, my Coronation, is not the symbol of a power and a splendor that are g... QUEEN ELIZABETH II We lost the American colonies because we lacked the statesmanship to know the right time and the man... QUEEN ELIZABETH II Madam President, speaking here in Dublin Castle it is impossible to ignore the weight of history, as... QUEEN ELIZABETH II These wretched babies don't come until they are ready. QUEEN ELIZABETH II I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of ... QUEEN ELIZABETH II The events that I have attended to mark my Diamond Jubilee have been a humbling experience. It has t... QUEEN ELIZABETH II In remembering the appalling suffering of war on both sides, we recognise how precious is the peace ... QUEEN ELIZABETH II Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters... QUEEN ELIZABETH II No one who knew Diana will ever forget her. Millions of others who never met her, but felt they knew... QUEEN ELIZABETH II I have been aware all the time that my peoples, spread far and wide throughout every continent and o... QUEEN ELIZABETH II I don't know if I have a favorite color. KATE MIDDLETON It's very special having a new little girl. KATE MIDDLETON O, the sheer magnificence of words that come together like waves upon a beach, each telling its own ... JOHN M SHEEHAN I have learned that I am a one-woman man. ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ INARRITU We are not victims by nature...we are programmed to be victims...for good reason...if we truly embra... GAIL MARIE MACLEAN I've told you I don't live and die by the polls. Thus, I will refrain from pointing out that we're n... , IN THE NEW REPUBLIC We'll sort of get over the marriage first and then maybe look at the kids. But obviously we want... PRINCE WILLIAM Family is the most important thing in the world. PRINCESS DIANA You philosophers are lucky men. You write on paper and paper is patient. Unfortunate Empress that I ... CATHERINE THE GREAT With the right help, children have a good chance of overcoming their issues while they are still you... KATE MIDDLETON As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. KING SOLOMON I don't mind a big fascinator. I think there is more scope for artwork in a fascinator rather th... ZARA PHILLIPS I was always told from the hat-makers that you should have your hair up because it shows the hat mor... ZARA PHILLIPS I don't think I'll still be riding at 40. There are a couple of people who are still riding ... ZARA PHILLIPS My dad's not a big talker. ZARA PHILLIPS My dad can be pretty critical sometimes. ZARA PHILLIPS I'd love to have kids, but not at the moment. ZARA PHILLIPS You cannot make horses 'safe.' ZARA PHILLIPS Virtually everything that gets printed about me is wrong anyway, so it doesn't really matter wha... ZARA PHILLIPS It's stupid to say that I don't like being in the public eye, but I don't like doing stu... ZARA PHILLIPS I'm an affectionate person. ZARA PHILLIPS People still text me to say that there is something about me in the paper, and what really annoys me... ZARA PHILLIPS Sometimes people will come up in the street and say: 'My daughter loves you, will you sign an au... ZARA PHILLIPS Taking part in an Olympics on home ground is something you dream about. ZARA PHILLIPS My brother and I have been able to get on and have been very lucky to do things with our family that... ZARA PHILLIPS I don't think about the media. ZARA PHILLIPS I love the sport and being competitive. ZARA PHILLIPS The horses are all characters, all personalities. Some you get along with, some you don't, some ... ZARA PHILLIPS I hate having my picture taken. ZARA PHILLIPS Unfortunately in sport it's either good or bad. You've got to take the highs and the lows. ZARA PHILLIPS My mother is massively into sailing, so we always had Musto clothes, and it went on from there, real... ZARA PHILLIPS The senior members of the royal family work very hard and I don't think people quite realise tha... ZARA PHILLIPS In our sport you're very lucky to find a horse of a lifetime and I found mine relatively early. ... ZARA PHILLIPS I don't have a stylist, and I do most of my shopping online, just because it's easier. I don... ZARA PHILLIPS I think Facebook's dangerous. So many people I know get into trouble with Facebook... I'd ra... ZARA PHILLIPS I'm not a princess anyway so I find that quite weird to be labelled as one. ZARA PHILLIPS Smoking is hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, and dangerous to the lungs. KING JAMES I My dear mamma is quite right when she says that we must lay down principles and not depart from them... MARIE ANTOINETTE I never make a trip to the United States without visiting a supermarket. To me they are more fascina... WALLIS SIMPSON PS: It's all gossip about the prince. I'm not in the habit of taking my girlfriends' bea... WALLIS SIMPSON I am so anxious for you not to abdicate and I think the fact that you do is going to put me in the w... WALLIS SIMPSON I hate this place. I shall hate it to my grave. WALLIS SIMPSON I look a hundred and weigh 110 - you won't love me when you see the wreck England has made me. WALLIS SIMPSON A woman's life can really be a succession of lives, each revolving around some emotionally compe... WALLIS SIMPSON Never explain, never complain. WALLIS SIMPSON You have no idea how hard it is to live out a great romance. WALLIS SIMPSON I have always had the courage for the new things that life sometimes offers. WALLIS SIMPSON For a gallant spirit there can never be defeat. WALLIS SIMPSON Forgive me for not writing but this man is exhausting. WALLIS SIMPSON You can never be too rich or too thin. WALLIS SIMPSON A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. KING SOLOMON It seems to me that man is made to act rather than to know: the principles of things escape our most... FREDERICK THE GREAT
More Emil Cioran
Insomnia is a vertiginous lucidity that can convert paradise itself into a place of torture. EMIL CIORAN I saw that philosophy had no power to make my life more bearable. Thus I lost my belief in philosoph... EMIL CIORAN I lost my sleep, and this is the greatest tragedy that can befall someone. It is much worse than sit... EMIL CIORAN Injustice constitutes the essence of social life. EMIL CIORAN The capital phenomenon, the most catastrophic disaster, is uninterrupted sleeplessness, that nothing... EMIL CIORAN One should live and die where one was born... I've been bored everywhere I went. What was the po... EMIL CIORAN We rightly scorn those who have no made use of their defects, who have not exploited their deficienc... EMIL M. CIORAN I have tried to protect myself against men, to react against their madness to discern its source; I ... EMIL M. CIORAN It has been a long time since philosophers have read men’s souls. It is not their task, we are tol... EMIL M. CIORAN We must learn how to explode! Any disease is healthier than the one provoked by a hoarded rage. EMIL M. CIORAN Magnificat de Bach. Remué jusqu'aux larmes. Il est impossible que ce qui s'y exprime n'ait q... EMIL M. CIORAN As long as one believes in philosophy, one is healthy; sickness begins when one starts to think. EMIL M. CIORAN It is not worth the bother of killing yourself, since you always kill yourself too late. EMIL M. CIORAN Melancholy: an appetite no misery satisfies. EMIL M. CIORAN Knowledge subverts love: in proportion as we penetrate our secrets, we come to loathe our kind, prec... EMIL M. CIORAN By all evidence we are in the world to do nothing. EMIL M. CIORAN Our only choice is between irrespirable truths and salutary frauds. EMIL M. CIORAN The multiplication of our kind borders on the obscene; the duty to love them, on the preposterous. EMIL M. CIORAN Fear of death is merely the projection into the future of a fear which dates back to our first momen... EMIL M. CIORAN Between Ennui and Ecstasy unwinds our whole experience of time. EMIL M. CIORAN The fact that life has no meaning is a reason to live --moreover, the only one. EMIL M. CIORAN Tristetea, ca si suferinta, ne revela existenta, deoarece în ele avem în constiinta separatia noas... EMIL M. CIORAN If you try to convert someone, it will never be to effect his salvation but to make him suffer ... EMIL M. CIORAN We have convictions only if we have studied nothing thoroughly. EMIL M. CIORAN It is no sign of benediction to have been obsessed with the lives of saints, for it is an obsession ... EMIL M. CIORAN I have no ideas, only obsessions. Anybody can have ideas. Ideas have never caused anybody's downfall... EMIL M. CIORAN Word — That invisible dagger. EMIL M. CIORAN My soul is chaos, how can it be at all? There is everything in me: search and you will find out. I a... EMIL M. CIORAN Each of us must pay for the slightest damage he inflicts upon a universe created for indifference an... EMIL M. CIORAN Les mystiques et leurs « œuvres complètes ». Quand on s'adresse à Dieu, et à Dieu seul, co... EMIL M. CIORAN A book is a suicide postponed. EMIL M. CIORAN True confessions are written with tears only. But my tears would drown the world, as my inner fire w... EMIL M. CIORAN Dans les époques de stérilité, on devrait hiberner, dormir jour et nuit pour conserver ses forces... EMIL M. CIORAN Man starts over again everyday, in spite of all he knows, against all he knows. EMIL M. CIORAN By capitulating to life, this world has betrayed nothingness. . . . I resign from movement, and from... EMIL M. CIORAN Since it is difficult to approve the reasons people invoke, each time we leave one of our 'fellow me... EMIL M. CIORAN Niciodată nu te voi trăda de tot, deşi te-am trădat şi te voi trăda la fiecare pas; Când te-a... EMIL M. CIORAN Sînt unii oameni atît de prosti, ca de le-ar aparea vreo idee la suprafata creierului ea s-ar sinu... EMIL M. CIORAN In numele si sub teroarea ei (plictiselii, n.m.) parasesc oamenii caminul si moartea agreabila legat... EMIL M. CIORAN S'il n'avait gardé une dernière illusion, je me réclamerais volontiers d'Omar Khayyam, de ses tri... EMIL M. CIORAN To live entirely without a goal! I have glimpsed this state, and have often attained it, without man... EMIL M. CIORAN Only optimists commit suicide, optimists who no longer succeed at being optimists. The others, havin... EMIL M. CIORAN Só é saudável em nós aquilo pelo que não somos especificamente nós mesmos: são nossas aversõ... EMIL M. CIORAN Of all that was attempted this side of nothingness, is anything more pathetic than this world, excep... EMIL M. CIORAN My soul is chaos, how can it be at all? There is everything in me: search and you will find out ... ... EMIL M. CIORAN If just once you were depressed for no reason, you have been so all your life without knowing it. EMIL M. CIORAN Only one endowed with restless vitality is susceptible to pessimism. You become a pessimist—a demo... EMIL M. CIORAN Eu nu am idei ci obsesii. Idei poate avea oricine. Nimeni nu s-a prăbușit din cauza ideilor. EMIL M. CIORAN أشعر أنني منفصل تماما عن كل البلدان وعن كل المجموعات. أ�... EMIL M. CIORAN The fact that life has no meaning is a reason to live-moreover, the only one. EMIL M. CIORAN Between the demand to be clear,and the temptation to be obscure, impossible to decide which deserves... EMIL M. CIORAN Each time I fail to think about death, I have the impression of cheating, of deceiving someone in me... EMIL M. CIORAN Revenge is not always sweet, once it is consummated we feel inferior to our victim. EMIL M. CIORAN ثمة راهب وجزار يتشاجران داخل كل رغبة. EMIL M. CIORAN At this very moment, I am suffering—as we say in French, j’ai mal. This event, crucial for me, i... EMIL M. CIORAN When people come to me saying they want to kill themselves, I tell them, “What’s your rush? You ... EMIL M. CIORAN En sí misma, toda idea es neutra o debería serlo; pero el hombre la anima, proyecta en ella sus ll... CIORAN Todos los hombres tienen que destruir su vida. Y según la manera como lo hagan se llamarán triunfa... CIORAN The eminent cleric was poking fun at original sin. ‘That sin is your meal ticket. Without it, you�... CIORAN You can't climb up to the second floor without a ladder. When you set your aim too high and don&... EMIL ZATOPEK Clever people master life; the wise illuminate it and create fresh difficulties. EMIL NOLDE To boast of a performance which I cannot beat is merely stupid vanity. And if I can beat it that mea... EMIL ZATOPEK It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys. EMIL ZATOPEK The artist need not know very much; best of all let him work instinctively and paint as naturally as... EMIL NOLDE O Lord, let thyself be found with a good gift to everyone who needs it, that the happy may find cour... EMIL BRUNNER It is characteristic of the thinking of our time that the problem of guilt and forgiveness has been ... EMIL BRUNNER This autonomy of man, this attempt of the Ego to understand itself out of itself, is the lie concern... EMIL BRUNNER Commemoration of Scholastica, Abbess of Plombariola, c.543 Since becoming a disciple of Christ, Pa... EMIL BRUNNER Feast of Boniface (Wynfrith) of Crediton, Archbishop of Mainz, Apostle of Germany, Martyr, 754 T... EMIL BRUNNER Commemoration of Samuel & Henrietta Barnett, Social Reformers, 1913 & 1936 Evil can be interpret... EMIL BRUNNER Commemoration of Clement, Bishop of Rome, Martyr, c.100 Thanksgiving (U.S.) Eternal life is not... EMIL BRUNNER In quite recent times we seem to have entered a particularly dangerous new phase of anthropological ... EMIL BRUNNER By giving to Jesus Christ, the Man who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, this historical personali... EMIL BRUNNER Commemoration of Douglas Downes, Founder of the Society of Saint Francis, 1957 For the Platonic o... EMIL BRUNNER The Revelation of God is not a book or a doctrine, but a living Person. EMIL BRUNNER Commemoration of Mellitus, First Bishop of London, 624 Utopias of historical progress cannot sedu... EMIL BRUNNER So long as we stand "under the Law", we cannot perceive this hidden unity of all the commandments. I... EMIL BRUNNER Debate is the death of conversation. EMIL LUDWIG The decision to kiss for the first time is the most crucial in any love story. It changes the relati... EMIL LUDWIG One who receives this Word, and by it salvation, receives along with it the duty of passing this Wor... EMIL BRUNNER Love does not inquire into the character of the recipient but it asks what he needs. It does not lov... EMIL BRUNNER Hope is the power that gives us the power to step out and try. EMIL BRUNNER Many a person has held close, throughout their entire lives, two friends that always remained strang... EMIL LUDWIG A runner must run with dreams in his heart, not money in his pocket. EMIL ZATOPEK If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon. EMIL ZATOPEK If one can stick to the training throughout the many long years, then will power is no longer a prob... EMIL ZATOPEK Strong people alone know how to organize their suffering so as to bear only the most necessary pain. EMIL DORIAN This is closest we'll ever be. This is our escape. Our secret closet, our letter of invitation to Ho... EMIL OSTROVSKI What an artist learns matters little. What he himself discovers has a real worth for him, and gives ... EMIL NOLDE The art of an artist must be his own art. It is... always a continuous chain of little inventions, l... EMIL NOLDE One day the factory sports coach, who was very strict, pointed at four boys, including me, and order... EMIL ZATOPEK There is a great advantage in training under unfavorable conditions. It is better to train under bad... EMIL ZATOPEK Art is exalted above religion and race. Not a single solitary soul these days believes in the religi... EMIL NOLDE The art of an artist must be his own art. It is... always a continuous chain of little inventions, l... EMIL NOLDE You can't plan on hitting the ball soft. He threw it soft, so I hit it soft. They were catching the ... EMIL BROWN You can't climb to the second floor without a ladder. Try for a goal that's reasonable, then gradual... EMIL ZATOPEK An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in hi... EMIL ZATOPEK Just make sure your intentions are not pretensions EMIL LUDWIG When [he] kisses you he isn't doing anything else. You're his whole universe..and the moment is eter... EMIL LUDWIG If you want to run, then run a mile. If you want to experience another life, run a marathon. EMIL ZATOPEK I am Nurmi! I am Nurmi! EMIL ZATOPEK Either will do an excellent job of leading the ticket in November. We believe we have a great opport... EMIL RUNGE The candidates are opposed to this and have said so. This is not being done in conjunction with the ... EMIL RUNGE Such an outcome could cause a misstatement of the net worth of the acquiring credit union and we ver... EMIL HENRY Our point here is that what we don't want is for people to walk away and say, well, those are yester... EMIL HENRY We are focused on doing what is right for the taxpayer. While many of the issues in the report are i... EMIL HENRY We're very comfortable with it. EMIL HENRY It's not a simple matter of increasing the clock frequency because doing so has all sorts of downstr... EMIL GIRCZYC What until recently seemed to be only the apocalyptic fantasies of the Christian faith has today ent... EMIL BRUNNER What oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope to the meaning of life EMIL BRUNNER I value it. You never take it for granted. EMIL BROWN I'm not going to say I have a chip on my shoulder. I'm not even thinking about last year. I can't wa... EMIL BROWN If I lost my case, I wasn't going to lose any sleep over it. Winning it worked out for me. I've got ... EMIL BROWN I'd never call it a laugher but it's a lot easier on the pitchers, EMIL BROWN That was no fly ball, that was a line drive, ... I knew I had no chance to catch that ball. Did you ... EMIL BROWN Yeah, because I didn't have to be on the bases today, ... I [messed] up enough. EMIL BROWN I don't know how many we've lost in a row. I'm trying to forget about it. EMIL BROWN We got some hits off him early. I wouldn't say he was a hittable pitcher. He didn't look ordinary. EMIL BROWN The athlete of today is not an athlete alone. He's the center of a team - doctors, scientists, c... EMIL ZATOPEK Men, today we die a little. EMIL ZATOPEK What has passed is already finished with. What I find more interesting is what is still to come. EMIL ZATOPEK Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I want to learn to run fast. EMIL ZATOPEK Great is the victory, but the friendship of all is greater. EMIL ZATOPEK The thyroid cells take up iodine with particular avidity and are able to store it up in great quanti... EMIL THEODOR KOCHER In the early 1950s, during the near avalanche of discoveries, rediscoveries, and redefinitions of su... GEORGE EMIL PALADE For a scientist, it is a unique experience to live through a period in which his field of endeavour ... GEORGE EMIL PALADE We finally understand in general terms how a cell is organized, how its specialized organs function ... GEORGE EMIL PALADE In 1973, I left the Rockefeller University to join the Yale University Medical School. The main reas... GEORGE EMIL PALADE My father, Emil Palade, was professor of philosophy, and my mother, Constanta Cantemir-Palade, was a... GEORGE EMIL PALADE For them to have to go back in twice, that's not good. At 77, not too many people make a good recove... DR. EMIL POPOVIC For them to have to go back in twice, that's not good. DR. EMIL POPOVIC Seldom in the history of medicine has the recognition of the most effective cure followed as swiftly... EMIL THEODOR KOCHER Since my high school years, I have been interested in history, especially in Roman history, a topic ... GEORGE EMIL PALADE Anyone can escape into sleep, we are all geniuses when we dream, the butcher's the poet's eq... EMILE M. CIORAN Everything is pathology, except for indifference. EMILE M. CIORAN The Universal view melts things into a blur. EMILE M. CIORAN Music is the refuge of souls ulcerated by happiness. E. M. CIORAN The mind is the result of the torments the flesh undergoes or inflicts upon itself. E. M. CIORAN If we could see ourselves as others see us, we would vanish on the spot. E. M. CIORAN One does not inhabit a country; one inhabits a language. That is our country, our fatherland --and n... E. M. CIORAN Does our ferocity not derive from the fact that our instincts are all too interested in other people... E. M. CIORAN A decadent civilization compromises with its disease, cherishes the virus infecting it, loses its se... E. M. CIORAN Anyone can escape into sleep, we are all geniuses when we dream, the butcher's the poet's equal ther... E. M. CIORAN Speech and silence. We feel safer with a madman who talks than with one who cannot open his mouth. E. M. CIORAN A sudden silence in the middle of a conversation suddenly brings us back to essentials: it reveals h... E. M. CIORAN Show me one thing here on earth which has begun well and not ended badly. The proudest palpitations ... E. M. CIORAN Criticism is a misconception: we must read not to understand others but to understand ourselves. E. M. CIORAN To want fame is to prefer dying scorned than forgotten. E. M. CIORAN Man must vanquish himself, must do himself violence, in order to perform the slightest action untain... E. M. CIORAN A civilization is destroyed only when its gods are destroyed. E. M. CIORAN God: a disease we imagine we are cured of because no one dies of it nowadays. E. M. CIORAN Fear can supplant our real problems only to the extent --unwilling either to assimilate or to exhaus... E. M. CIORAN What we want is not freedom but its appearances. It is for these simulacra that man has always striv... E. M. CIORAN Progress is the injustice each generation commits with regard to its predecessors. E. M. CIORAN When you have understood that nothing is, that things do not even deserve the status of appearances,... E. M. CIORAN It is not worth the bother of killing yourself, since you always kill yourself too late. E. M. CIORAN The obsession with suicide is characteristic of the man who can neither live nor die, and whose atte... E. M. CIORAN Impossible to spend sleepless nights and accomplish anything: if, in my youth, my parents had not fi... E. M. CIORAN Negation is the mind's first freedom, yet a negative habit is fruitful only so long as we exert ours... E. M. CIORAN Those who believe in their truth -- the only ones whose imprint is retained by the memory of men -- ... E. M. CIORAN What would be left of our tragedies if an insect were to present us his? E. M. CIORAN Torment, for some men, is a need, an appetite, and an accomplishment. E. M. CIORAN Only one endowed with restless vitality is susceptible to pessimism. You become a pessimist --a demo... E. M. CIORAN Great persecutors are recruited among martyrs whose heads haven't been cut off. E. M. CIORAN No human beings more dangerous than those who have suffered for a belief: the great persecutors are ... E. M. CIORAN We derive our vitality from our store of madness. E. M. CIORAN The source of our actions resides in an unconscious propensity to regard ourselves as the center, th... E. M. CIORAN Tyranny destroys or strengthens the individual; freedom enervates him, until he becomes no more than... E. M. CIORAN The fact that life has no meaning is a reason to live --moreover, the only one. E. M. CIORAN Every thought derives from a thwarted sensation. E. M. CIORAN To exist is a habit I do not despair of acquiring. E. M. CIORAN No one can keep his grieves in their prime; they use themselves up. E. M. CIORAN The fanatic is incorruptible: if he kills for an idea, he can just as well get himself killed for on... E. M. CIORAN Sperm is a bandit in its pure state. E. M. CIORAN We would not be interested in human beings if we did not have the hope of someday meeting someone wo... E. M. CIORAN Reason is a whore, surviving by simulation, versatility, and shamelessness. E. M. CIORAN Much more than our other needs and endeavors, it is sexuality that puts us on an even footing with o... E. M. CIORAN Anyone can escape into sleep, we are all geniuses when we dream, the butcher's the poet's equal ther... EMILE M. CIORAN Anyone can escape into sleep, we are all geniuses when we dream, the butcher's the poet's equal the... E. M. CIORAN The fanatic is incorruptible: if he kills for an idea, he can just as well get himself killed for on... EMILE M. CIORAN The fanatic is incorruptible: if he kills for an idea, he can just as well get himself killed for on... E. M. CIORAN Alone, even doing nothing, you do not waste your time. You do, almost always, in company. No encount... E. M. CIORAN A people represents not so much an aggregate of ideas and theories as of obsessions. EMILE M. CIORAN Ambition is a drug that makes its addicts potential madmen. EMILE M. CIORAN The obsession with suicide is characteristic of the man who can neither live nor die, and whose atte... EMILE M. CIORAN Our first intuitions are the true ones. EMILE M. CIORAN Who Rebels? Who rises in arms? Rarely the slave, but almost always the oppressor turned slave. EMILE M. CIORAN Jealousy - that jumble of secret worship and ostensible aversion. EMILE M. CIORAN Tolerance - the function of an extinguished ardor - tolerance cannot seduce the young. EMILE M. CIORAN Chaos is rejecting all you have learned, chaos is being yourself. EMILE M. CIORAN Word - that invisible dagger. EMILE M. CIORAN Consciousness is much more than the thorn, it is the dagger in the flesh. EMILE M. CIORAN The fear of being deceived is the vulgar version of the quest for Truth. EMILE M. CIORAN No one recovers from the disease of being born, a deadly wound if there ever was one. EMILE M. CIORAN Life inspires more dread than death - it is life which is the great unknown. EMILE M. CIORAN Each concession we make is accompanied by an inner diminution of which we are not immediately consci... EMILE M. CIORAN Anyone can escape into sleep, we are all geniuses when we dream, the butcher's the poet's equal ther... E. M. CIORAN Life is possible only by the deficiencies of our imagination and memory. EMILE M. CIORAN Life creates itself in delirium and is undone in ennui. EMILE M. CIORAN Every thought derives from a thwarted sensation. EMILE M. CIORAN