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
To live entirely without a goal! I have glimpsed this state, and have often attained it, without managing to remain there: I am too weak for such happiness.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the difficulty of achieving true happiness without goals, suggesting that it's a state few can easily maintain.
Emile M. Cioran expresses the paradox of happiness in this quote, indicating that complete happiness may come from a state of being without goals, yet he acknowledges the struggle to remain in such a state. He implies that a sense of purpose or objective is often intertwined with our ability to find satisfaction, and admits to feeling too vulnerable to sustain an existence marked by utter absence of desires and ambitions.
Themes
HappinessGoalsPurposeVulnerabilityExistence
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about pursuing dreams.
More from Emile M. Cioran
All quotes →We are afraid of the enormity of the possible.
Emile M. CioranRead
There was a time when time did not yet exist. … 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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