E. M. Cioran

“Democracy is a festival of mediocrity.”

“My enthusiasms ... constitute my reserves, my unexploited resources, perhaps my future.”

“Let us not be needlessly bitter: certain failures are sometimes fruitful.”

“If each of us were to confess his most secret desire, the one that inspires all his plans, all his actions, he would say: "I want to be praised."”

“An individual dies ... when, instead of taking risks and hurling himself toward being, he cowers within, and takes refuge there.”

“No one can keep his griefs in their prime; they use themselves up.”

“The fact that life has no meaning is a reason to live --moreover, the only one.”

“A zoologist who observed gorillas in their native habitat was amazed by the uniformity of their life and their vast idleness. Hours and hours without doing anything. Was boredom unknown to t...”