Maxioms by E. M. Cioran
No human beings more dangerous than those who have suffered for a belief: the great persecutors are recruited from the read more
No human beings more dangerous than those who have suffered for a belief: the great persecutors are recruited from the martyrs not quite beheaded. Far from diminishing the appetite for power, suffering exasperates it.
Anyone can escape into sleep, we are all geniuses when we dream, the butcher's the poet's equal there. - The read more
Anyone can escape into sleep, we are all geniuses when we dream, the butcher's the poet's equal there. - The Tempation to Exist.
Negation is the mind's first freedom, yet a negative habit is fruitful only so long as we exert ourselves to read more
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.
Man must vanquish himself, must do himself violence, in order to perform the slightest action untainted by evil.
Man must vanquish himself, must do himself violence, in order to perform the slightest action untainted by evil.
The fanatic is incorruptible: if he kills for an idea, he can just as well get himself killed for one; read more
The fanatic is incorruptible: if he kills for an idea, he can just as well get himself killed for one; in either case, tyrant or martyr, he is a monster.
