374 Quotes by Emile M. Cioran

The curtain of the universe is moth-eaten, and through its holes we see nothing now but mask and ghost.

My mission is to suffer for all those who suffer without knowing it. I must pay for them, expiate their unconsciousness, their luck to be ignorant of how unhappy they are.

We interest others by the misfortune we spread around us.

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.

Paradise was unendurable, otherwise the first man would have adapted to it; this world is no less so, since here we regret paradise or anticipate another one. What to do? Where to go? Do nothing and go nowhere, easy enough.

No one can enjoy freedom without trembling.

There is only one thing worse than boredom, and that is the fear of boredom.

In a republic, that paradise of debility, the politician is a petty tyrant who obeys the laws.

It is an understatement to say that in this society injustices abound: In truth it is itself the quintessence of injustice.