7 Wonderful Phrases By Emil Ciorán

There are many phrases by Emil Ciorán that leave us astonished. Its crude realism – and nothing hidden pessimism – are like a bucket of cold water for the conscience. This Romanian philosopher did not beat around the bush, but decidedly faced all the aspects that he considered warranted reflection.

It is clear that the purpose of this thinker was not exactly to lift anyone’s spirits. In the phrases of Emil Ciorán it is clearly seen that his was to provoke. He loved going against the tide, because this was also a way of denouncing the banalities and inconsistencies of the world in which he lived.

What one finds in the phrases of Emil Ciorán is a deep disappointment, which ends up being a challenge for light or excessively romantic life models. The encounter with this thinker causes a certain shock, especially among those who are used to the so-called “exitology”. These are some of his most remembered phrases.

1. Some infidelities are not forgiven

This is one of many phrases by Emil Ciorán full of intelligent irony and common sense. It goes like this: ” The last to whom we forgive their infidelity are those whom we have disappointed. “

It is a sharp and profound statement. When someone does not live up to the expectations of their partner, they know that who is failing is him and not the other. Infidelity would be a way to ratify that flaw. That is why such infidelity is difficult to forgive : it is a way of accepting that initial disappointment. A narcissistic wound that hurts deeply.

2. One of Emil Ciorán’s phrases about age

The sense of humor is present in many of Emil Ciorán’s phrases. It is a black, caustic humor. This is what can be seen in this statement: “ What I know at sixty, I already knew at twenty. Forty years of long, superfluous testing work ”.

You may be right. There are many truths of life that are sensed very early. However, youth are not entirely sure of what they detect. A chain of successive checks is required, which in many cases does not provide more than infinite reiteration .

3. Correspondence in missions

Emil Ciorán had no problem going against what has been considered a productive or successful life. Nor was he interested in hiding his deep disappointment at existence. On the contrary: he was delving deeply into the wound.

This phrase says it all about him: “ My mission is to kill time, and time is to kill me in turn. How comfortable one is among murderers ”. Death and suicide were present in many of his works. He insisted that existence has no more meaning than to spend it, as something that is useless.

4. Do’s and Don’ts

A good part of society is convinced that the most important thing is to do, do and do more. Standing still or unproductive is seen almost as blasphemy. However, from doing so much we have also become so restless that anxiety has ended up invading us.

Faced with this, Emil Ciorán says: “ We can be proud of what we have done, but we should be much more proud of what we have not done. That pride is yet to be invented ”. His approach is reasonable, as not doing also generates consequences. And in such a compulsive and automated world, these could be positive.

5. The rebels

Ciorán had a certain contempt for figures of power. As the iconoclast that he was, he never gave greater credit to the heroisms, nor to the great deeds of those who fight in the name of some ideological cause.

His position on the matter is perfectly clear in the following sentence: “ Who is rebelling? Who takes up arms? The slave rarely, but almost always the oppressor turned into a slave ”. In this way, he equates the rebel with the oppressor, indicating that they have the same essence. The slave, as such, always obeys.

6. The hidden

Emil Ciorán did not see the human being as a superior species or endowed with something memorable. On the contrary, on several occasions he emphasized the base way in which human beings live and populate the earth.

Part of that perspective is captured here: “ Only what is hidden is deep and true. Hence the force of vile feelings ”. In other words, the human being hides his vile feelings and precisely by doing so, they emerge with greater force when they appear.

7. Suffering

Although Ciorán was not happy and expressed it in countless opportunities, he was not a “sufferer” either. Rather than experiencing pain for life, or for the experiences he accumulated, what he did was uncover the inconsistency using irony, adopting a style appreciated for the singular.

So it is not uncommon for him to have been critical even on the subject of suffering. In this regard, he points out: ” Suffering is the way to be active without doing anything. ” In other words, the one who suffers lives in the middle of a storm, inactive, without putting in place any coping strategy that lessens it.

There are many other phrases by Emil Ciorán that are truly interesting and that are left out of this selection. Reading it, despite the gloomy tone it adopts to deconstruct reality, is a delight as a stimulus for reflection.