Quotes from History and Utopia — Emil Cioran
1911–1995 France
48 quotes
To venture upon an undertaking of any kind, even the most insignificant, is to sacrifice to envy.
In a republic, that paradise of debility, the politician is a petty tyrant who obeys the laws.
We understand God by everything in ourselves that is fragmentary, incomplete, and inopportune.
In order to have the stuff of a tyrant, a certain mental derangement is necessary.
If, at the limit, you can rule without crime, you cannot do so without injustices.
Utopia is a mixture of childish rationalism and secularized angelism.
We are born to exist, not to know, to be, not to assert ourselves.
Ambition is a drug that makes its addicts potential madmen.
Skepticism is the sadism of embittered souls.
To act is to anchor in the imminent future.
Glory — once achieved, what is it worth?
We are all secularised anarchists today.
I foresee the day when we shall read nothing but telegrams and prayers.
Tolerance — the function of an extinguished ardor — tolerance cannot seduce the young.
The more we try to wrest ourselves from our ego, the deeper we sink into it.
Attribution
Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Emil Cioran (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.