"When we cannot be delivered from ourselves, we delight in devouring ourselves."

Emil Cioran Philosophy See all quotes by Emil Cioran →

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“Losing love is so rich a philosophical ordeal that it makes a hairdresser into a rival of Socrates.”

“Freedom can be manifested only in the void of beliefs, in the absence of axioms, and only where the laws have no more authority than a hypothesis.”

“Fortunate those who, born before science, were privileged to die of their first disease!”

“Only the idiot is equipped to breathe.”

“The fact that life has no meaning is a reason to live — moreover, the only one.”

“The more one is obsessed with God, the less one is innocent. Nobody bothered about him in paradise. The fall brought about this divine torture. It's not possible to be conscious of divinity without guilt. Thus God is rarely to be found in an innocent soul.”

Resonant Thoughts

"The piano is always true to me. In times of despair, happiness, and joy, its mood is always my own."

— Bradley Joseph

Music1965

#happiness

"When I, a thoughtful and unblessed Presbyterian, examine the Koran, I know that beyond any question every Mohammedan is insane; not in all things, but in religious matters. When a thoughtful and unble…"

— Mark Twain

Literature1835–1910

#mind

"It was suggested by the late Alfred Knopf that books should be graded like eggs, and that publishing houses should not offer as First Class what they well know to be Fifth. But of course publishers ca…"

— Robertson Davies

Literature1913–1995

#knowledge

"The strength of a belief, says Professor Bain, is measured by its influence on conduct, and belief in Karma ought to make the life pure, strong, serene and glad. Only our own deeds can hinder us; only…"

— Annie Besant

Politics1847–1933

#power