The premonition of madness is complicated by the fear of lucidity in madness, the fear of the moments of return and reunion... One would welcome chaos if one were not afraid of lights in it.
Emile M. CioranRead
If truth were not boring, science would have done away with God long ago. But God as well as the saints is a means to escape the dull banality of truth.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Truth can be seen as unexciting, and the concept of God offers an escape from that monotony.
In this quote, Cioran suggests that the objective nature of truth can often feel tedious or uninspiring. He implies that belief in God and the narratives surrounding spirituality serve as a refuge from the mundane realities of life, providing wonder and excitement that truth alone may lack.
Themes
TruthScienceGodSpiritualityBanality
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on the relationship between faith and reason.
More from Emile M. Cioran
All quotes βWe are afraid of the enormity of the possible.
Emile M. CioranRead
There was a time when time did not yet exist. β¦ The rejection of birth is nothing but the nostalgia for this time before time.
Emile M. CioranRead
A marvel that has nothing to offer, democracy is at once a nation's paradise and its tomb.
Emile M. CioranRead
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.
Emile M. CioranRead
It is not worth the bother of killing yourself, since you always kill yourself too late.
Emile M. CioranRead
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Part of my ancestry is Cherokee. And in that tradition, you become an adult when you're 52.
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I am so afraid of people's words.They describe so distinctly everything: And this they call dog and that they call house, here the start and there the end. I worry about their mockery with words, they know everything, what will be, what was; no mountain is still miraculous; and their house and yard lead right up to God. I want to warn and object: Let the things be! I enjoy listening to the sound they are making. But you always touch: and they hush and stand still. That's how you kill.
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