A Short History of Decay (Penguin Modern Classics)

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For those given to viewing the world through rose-colored spectacles Cioran provides a powerful antidote. The real criminals are men who establish an orthodoxy on the religious or political level, men who distinguish between the faithful and the schismatic. Whereas 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.

The source of our actions resides in an unconscious propensity to regard ourselves as the center, the cause, and the conclusion of time. The victory of non-authenticity is fulfilled in philosophical activity, that complacence in “one,” and in prophetic activity [whether religious, moral, or political], that apotheosis of “we. A master of the aphoristic style, his style probably isn't everybody's cup of tea, but I definitely enjoyed it.If Sunday afternoons were extended for months, where would humanity get to, liberated from sweat, from the weight of the first curse?

M. Cioran's nihilistic and witty collection of aphoristic essays concerning the nature of civilization in mid 20th-century Europe. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.As for the tough-minded, they should note that Cioran, besides being a thinker of dark and lacerating thoughts, is also a brilliant stylist with a way of expressing his disgust that can at times be hilariously funny; for example: "Sometimes I wish I was a cannibal - less for the pleasure of eating someone than for the pleasure of vomiting him. Then, exasperation in the truth might induce them to imitate the others and to indulge in the degrading temptation of tasks. Within the circle which encloses human beings in a community of interests and hopes, the mind opposed to mirages clears a path from the center toward the periphery.