Cioran's Philosophy
As incompetent in life as in death, I loathe myself and in this loathing I dream of another life, another death. And for having sought to be a sage such as never was, I am only a madman among the mad, a case more curious than the others, a simple lunatic whose lucidity exceeds his delirium.
What a presentation card from that secluded philosopher that never accepted awards called Emil Cioran. He wrote this in A Short History of Decay from 1949. An overload of realistic pessimism that can make many to vomit in despair.
Decay, decay... brosnung, brosnung!
Like Cioran, I also find decay interesting. But I'm not a king of pessimism like he was - even if that pessimist had more friends that I have.
Philosophic pessimism offers interesting lenses that leave us like chickens without feathers. In small doses, it may uncover realities we don't want to see. Realities unvarnished from the gentle pretensions of baseless optimism.
Taking from Cioran's arsenal:
Imagine that all exists and nothing exists; observe that injustice is the norm; realize that we are always wishing and never satisfied, always craving what we don't have; understand that everybody is miserable in some way; uncover that beauty and exaggeration live together and that deep inside, everybody has prejudices and suffers from intolerance to something; accept that we miss the present working for the future even if knowing that the future is death.
Think deeply about all that and you may lean into philosophic pessimism following the steps of Cioran.
every evening we are poorer by a day
Then, if each of our days is the transaction, the question is:
What do you buy with them?
And even if the answer is just "a few hours of quiet decay", Cioran would argue that acknowledging that truth would be more honorable than pretending otherwise.
This is the first step to start living fully. Don't you agree?