So long as man is protected by madness - he functions - and flourishes. Emile M. Cioran More Quotes by Emile M. Cioran More Quotes From Emile M. Cioran The premonition of madness is complicated by the fear of lucidity in madness, the fear of the moments of return and reunion... One would welcome chaos if one were not afraid of lights in it. Emile M. Cioran welcomereturnlight The desire to die was my one and only concern; to it I have sacrificed everything, even death. Emile M. Cioran my-one-and-onlyconcerndesire 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. Emile M. Cioran egoprideflesh I'm simply an accident. Why take it all so seriously? Emile M. Cioran accidents We are all geniuses when we dream. Emile M. Cioran geniusdream A self-respecting man is a man without a country. A fatherland is birdlime. Emile M. Cioran selfmencountry Even when nothing happens, everything seems too much for me. What can be said, then, in the presence of an event, any event? Emile M. Cioran eventstoo-muchsaid If we manage to last in spite of everything, it is because our infirmities are so many and so contradictory that they cancel each other out. Emile M. Cioran contradictoryspitelasts Whenever I happen to be in a city of any size, I marvel that riots do not break out everyday: Massacres, unspeakable carnage, a doomsday chaos. How can so many human beings coexist in a space so confined without hating each other to death? Emile M. Cioran hatespacecities By all evidence we are in the world to do nothing; but instead of nonchalantly promenading our own corruption, we exude our sweat and grow winded upon the fetid air. Emile M. Cioran sweatcrazyair Time is heavy sometimes; imagine how heavy eternity must be. Emile M. Cioran imagineeternitysometimes If truth were not boring, science would have done away with God long ago. But God as well as the saints is a means to escape the dull banality of truth. Emile M. Cioran long-agosaintmean We would not be interested in human beings if we did not have the hope of someday meeting someone worse off than ourselves. Emile M. Cioran meeting-someonesomedaymeetings My enthusiasms...constitute my reserves, my unexploited resources, perhaps my future. Emile M. Cioran my-futureresourcesenthusiasm Shame on the man who goes to his grave escorted by the miserable hopes that have kept him alive. Emile M. Cioran miserablealivemen Between Ennui and Ecstasy unwinds our whole experience of time. Emile M. Cioran unwindecstasybored If I were to be totally sincere, I would say that I do not know why I live and why I do not stop living. The answer probably lies in the irrational character of life which maintains itself without reason. Emile M. Cioran answerscharacterlying A man who fears ridicule will never go far, for good or ill: he remains on this side of this talents, and even if he has genius, he is doomed to mediocrity. Emile M. Cioran geniussidesmen There was a time when time did not yet exist. … The rejection of birth is nothing but the nostalgia for this time before time. Emile M. Cioran rejectionnostalgiatime No one should forget: Eros alone can fulfill life; knowledge, never. Only Eros makes sense; knowledge is empty infinity; – for thoughts, there is always time; life has its time; there is no thought that comes too late; any desire can become a regret. Emile M. Cioran regretdesiretoo-late
