Emil Cioran

Crime in full glory consolidates authority by the sacred fear it inspires.

Man must vanquish himself, must do himself violence, in order to perform the slightest action untainted by evil.

Anyone can escape into sleep, we are all geniuses when we dream, the butcher's the poet's equal there.

To venture upon an undertaking of any kind, even the most insignificant, is to sacrifice to envy.

The fanatic is incorruptible: if he kills for an idea, he can just as well get himself killed for one; in either case, tyrant or martyr, he is a monster.

Each concession we make is accompanied by an inner diminution of which we are not immediately conscious.

When we cannot be delivered from ourselves, we delight in devouring ourselves.

Music is the refuge of souls ulcerated by happiness.

Our first intuitions are the true ones.

I foresee the day when we shall read nothing but telegrams and prayers.

We would not be interested in human beings if we did not have the hope of someday meeting someone worse off than ourselves.

My mission is to kill time, and time's to kill me in its turn. How comfortable one is among murderers.