I lost my sleep, and this is the greatest tragedy that can befall someone. It is much worse than sitting in prison.
Emil CioranRead
I saw that philosophy had no power to make my life more bearable. Thus I lost my belief in philosophy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a disillusionment with philosophy's practical relevance to personal suffering.
Emil Cioran's statement reveals a deep sense of frustration with philosophy, suggesting that despite its theoretical insights, it fails to alleviate life's hardships. This highlights the tension between abstract thought and the tangible challenges of existence, leading to a loss of faith in philosophical concepts that do not provide solace or practical solutions in difficult times.
Themes
PhilosophyDisillusionmentLifeSufferingExistentialism
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech on the relevance of philosophy in modern life, one might reference this quote to highlight its limitations.
More from Emil Cioran
All quotes βIsn't history ultimately the result of our fear of boredom?
Emil CioranRead
However much I have frequented the mystics, deep down I have always sided with the Devil; unable to equal him in power, I have tried to be worthy of him, at least, in insolence, acrimony, arbitrariness and caprice.
Emil CioranRead
If, at the limit, you can rule without crime, you cannot do so without injustices.
Emil CioranRead
The capital phenomenon, the most catastrophic disaster, is uninterrupted sleeplessness, that nothingness without release.
Emil CioranRead
Similar quotes
Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle.
Lewis CarrollRead
Be as the sailor who keeps the polestar in his eye. By so doing we may not arrive at our port within a calculable period, but we will maintain a true course.
Henry David ThoreauRead
I'm interested in non-fiction, but a form of it which is very badly behaved, which doesn't define itself as straight-ahead journalism or memoir. It blurs boundaries, plays fast and loose with the truth - not to be silly, whimsical or lazy, but to get greater purchase on what it feels like to be alive.
David ShieldsRead
Remember your contemporaries who have passed away and were your age. Remember the honors and fame they earned, the high posts they held, and the beautiful bodies they possessed. Today all of them are turned to dust. They have left orphans and widows behind them, their wealth is being wasted, and their houses turned into ruins. _x000D_ _x000D_ No sign of them is left today, and they lie in dark holes underneath the earth. _x000D_ _x000D_ Picture their faces before your mind's eye and ponder.
Al-GhazaliRead
NOTORIETY, n. The fame of one's competitor for public honors. The kind of renown most accessible and acceptable to mediocrity. A Jacob's-ladder leading to the vaudeville stage, with angels ascending and descending.
Ambrose BierceRead
I'm offended by the kind of smarmy religiosity that's all around us, perhaps more in America than in Europe, and not really that harmful because it's not really that intense or even that serious, but just... you know after a while you get tired of hearing clergymen giving the invocation at various public celebrations and you feel, haven't we outgrown all this? Do we have to listen to this?
Steven WeinbergRead