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
Far from diminishing the appetite for power, suffering exasperates it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Suffering intensifies the desire for power rather than reducing it.
Emile M. Cioran suggests that rather than alleviating one's yearning for control and influence, experiences of suffering can actually deepen and exacerbate this drive. The paradoxical nature of human desires is highlighted, showing that adversity may lead individuals to seek greater power as a means of overcoming their pain and asserting their agency in the face of suffering.
Themes
PowerSufferingDesireControlAdversity
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about overcoming challenges, one might refer to Cioran's quote to emphasize the strength gained from adversity.
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
Similar quotes
Oceania was at war with Eurasia; therefore Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia.
George OrwellRead
We know that there is an infinite, and we know not its nature. As we know it to be false that numbers are finite, it is therefore true that there is a numerical infinity. But we know not of what kind; it is untrue that it is even, untrue that it is odd; for the addition of a unit does not change its nature; yet it is a number, and every number is odd or even (this certainly holds of every finite number). Thus we may quite well know that there is a God without knowing what He is.
Blaise PascalRead
And as the years have passed, the time has grown longer. The sad truth is that what I could recall in five seconds all too needed ten, then thirty, then a full minute - like shadows lengthening at dusk. Someday, I suppose, the shadows will be swallowed up in darkness.
Haruki MurakamiRead
The heights of popularity and patriotism are still the beaten road to power and tyranny.
David HumeRead
It might be said that society speaks through the clothing it wears. Through its clothing it reveals its secret aspirations and uses it, at least in part, to build or destroy its future.
Pope Pius XiiRead
If you feel that you must suffer, then plan your suffering carefully -- as you choose your dreams, as you conceive your ancestors.
Edward AbbeyRead