Emile M. Cioran
Emile M. Cioran
NationalityRomanian
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth8 April 1911
CountryRomania
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.
self flaws easy
How easy it is to be "deep": all you have to do is let yourself sink into your own flaws.
sometimes imagine eternity
Time is heavy sometimes; imagine how heavy eternity must be.
cheating thinking failing
Each time I fail to think about death, I have the impression of cheating, of deceiving someone in me.
fire tears world
True confessions are written with tears only. But my tears would drown the world, as my inner fire would reduce it to ashes.
rejection violence accepting
To live... in any sense of the word... is to reject others; to accept them, one must renounce, do oneself violence.
sleep tragedy sitting
I lost my sleep, and this is the greatest tragedy that can befall someone. It is much worse than sitting in prison.
suicide people want
When people come to me saying they want to kill themselves, I tell them, “What’s your rush? You can kill yourself any time you like. So calm down. Suicide is a positive act.” And they do calm down.
cynical democracy mediocrity
Democracy: a festival of mediocrity.
bored unwind ecstasy
Between Ennui and Ecstasy unwinds our whole experience of time.
devil acrimony insolence
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.
ego trying deeper
The more we try to rest ourselves from our Egos, the deeper we sink into it.
alive normal
We cannot be normal and alive at the same time.
practice risk psychology
Psychoanalysis is a technique we practice at our cost; psychoanalysis degrades our risks, our dangers, our depths; it strips us of our impurities, of all that made us curious about ourselves.