“Some people maintain that the fear of death does not have a deeper justification, because as long as there is an I there is no death, and once dead there is no I any longer. These people have forgotten about the very strange phenomenon of gradual agony. What comfort does this artificial distinction between the I and death offer a man who has a strong premonition of death? What meaning can logical argument or subtle thought have for someone deeply imbued with a feeling of the irrevocable? All attempts to bring existential questions onto a logical plane are null and void. Philosophers are too proud to confess their fear of death and too supercilious to acknowledge the spiritual fecundity of illness. Their reflections on death exhibit a hypocritical serenity; in fact, they tremble with fear more than anyone else. One should not forget that philosophy is the art of masking inner torments.” LifePhilosophyDeathExistentialismNihilismCioranOn The Heights Of DespairOn Philosophers Book:On the Heights of Despair Source: On the Heights of Despair
“All great conversions are born from the sudden revelation of life's meaninglessness. Nothing could be more moving or more impressive than this sudden apprehension of the void of existence.” DeathPessimismSkepticismNihilism Book:Tears and Saints Source: Tears and Saints
“The deepest subjective experiences are also the most universal, because through them one reaches the original source of life.” PhilosophyPsychologyExistentialismNihilismCioranOn The Heights Of DespairEmil M Cioran Book:On the Heights of Despair Source: On the Heights of Despair
“Filming a scene, there are countless takes of the same incident. Someone watching in the street - obviously a provincial - can't get over it: 'After this, I'll never go to the movies again.' One might react similarly with regard to anything whose underside one has seen, whose secret has been seized. Yet, by an obnubilation which has something of the miraculous about it, there are gynecologists who are attracted to their patients, gravediggers who father children, incurables who lay plans, skeptics who write . . .” MiraclesNihilismThe WillGynecologyUndersideObnubilation Book:The Trouble with Being Born Source: The Trouble with Being Born
“All nihilists have wrestled with God. One more proof of his kinship with nothingness. After you have trampled everything underfoot, his is the last bastion of nothingness left.” GodNothingnessNihilismNihilist Book:Tears and Saints Source: Tears and Saints