We understand God by everything in ourselves that is fragmentary, incomplete, and inopportune. Emile M. Cioran More Quotes by Emile M. Cioran More Quotes From Emile M. Cioran The history of ideas is the history of the grudges of solitary men. Emile M. Cioran grudge men ideas All that shimmers on the surface of the world, all that we call interesting, is the fruit of ignorance and inebriation. Emile M. Cioran ignorance world interesting On Creating — What we crave, what we want to see in others eyes, is that servile expression, an unconcealed infatuation with our gestures. Emile M. Cioran creating eye expression Negation is the mind's first freedom, yet a negative habit is fruitful only so long as we exert ourselves to overcome it, adapt it to our needs; once acquired it can imprison us. Emile M. Cioran rejection freedom long Does our ferocity not derive from the fact that our instincts are all too interested in other people? If we attended more to ourselves and became the center, the object of our murderous inclinations, the sum of our intolerances would diminish. Emile M. Cioran doe facts people Tolerance - the function of an extinguished ardor - tolerance cannot seduce the young. Emile M. Cioran function tolerance young To exist is a habit I do not despair of acquiring. Emile M. Cioran despair habit Only superficial minds approach an idea with delicacy. Emile M. Cioran delicacy mind ideas Intelligence flourishes only in the ages when belief withers. Emile M. Cioran intelligence belief age To defy heredity is to defy billions of years, to defy the first cell Emile M. Cioran cells years firsts Tyranny destroys or strengthens the individual; freedom enervates him, until he becomes no more than a puppet. Man has more chances of saving himself by hell than by paradise. Emile M. Cioran paradise saving men We are born to exist, not to know, to be, not to assert ourselves. Emile M. Cioran existence born knows Those who believe in their truth -- the only ones whose imprint is retained by the memory of men -- leave the earth behind them strewn with corpses. Religions number in their ledgers more murders than the bloodiest tyrannies account for, and those whom humanity has called divine far surpass the most conscientious murderers in their thirst for slaughter. Emile M. Cioran men memories believe In a republic, that paradise of debility, the politician is a petty tyrant who obeys the laws. Emile M. Cioran republic tyrants law An existence transfigured by failure. Emile M. Cioran existence I cannot contribute anything to this world because I only have one method: agony. Emile M. Cioran agony this-world world Boredom dismantles the mind, renders it superficial, out at the seams, saps it from within and dislocates it. Emile M. Cioran sap boredom mind A people represents not so much an aggregate of ideas and theories as of obsessions. Emile M. Cioran obsession people ideas Tragic paradox of freedom: the mediocre men who alone make its exercise possible cannot guarantee its duration. Emile M. Cioran duration exercise men It has been a long time since philosophers have read men's souls. It is not their task, we are told. Perhaps. But we must not be surprised if they no longer matter much to us. Emile M. Cioran soul men long
