A huge thanks to Ridge for sending me this wallet and supporting my channel! Here’s the site if you'd be interested in simplifying your pocket game ;) > www.ridge.com/SISYPHUS
God left us unfinished, on purpose. Not because he wants to see us suffer in our imperfection but because he himself is too stupid to see imperfection from perfection. We are to god what the burning bowl of milk and cereal is to Homer, if Homer had the ego and confidence as a chef of Gordon Ramsay.
Realism is often mistaken for strength. My grandfather said on his death bed, "I didn't think dying would be like this". He anticipated pain, but found no more than when he was living
as a german-romanian i once found a book in my fathers library, it was a coection of letters by cioran. Some time after i started researching him and while i can say i am more optimistic than he is and see far more ways in kindness, his works often make me feel less alone in my suffering, cioran wrote a lot on death and suicide but actually never saw suicide as a valid option, more of a thought to comfort oneself. In an interview he once stated that his works don't acurately describe him as he only writes during moments of total dispair. This video was great! Learned something new
The malnourished, hurt children in war-torn countties... i womder what's their option to react... I feel so lucky to have a home, but when I think about them i Feel, rather...inherently meaningless bound by shackles of "Failure is not an option" sort of judgemental process of where I live.
But in fragile vessels prone to such programmed loathing and harsh environments, while being born into such a loathsome and harsh world, most don’t have a easy option of deciding to be positive
@@allisonsmith9343 in a realm devoid of any truth because the reality of post modernity forces you to find these truths for yourself. You are left devoid of reason. In a state of existential nihilism devoid of any power to adhere to, you become this power and create reason for yourself. You do not find goodness but find what you need to continue living. A search was never meant to be easy but a search for a subjective intangible value depends only on an individuals ability to recieve thier responsibility to design thier own destination. We search for what we lack, find what we must, and create what we should.
Quit drinking 5years ago, and my life has found a new spirit, im glad I don't have children for this idea of life. I don't like people or how the world works. But I'm here and will endure this hell. I will make the best of what I have and be grateful I came to a understanding. I give my pets all my love and I get it back when I look into their eyes. Just because I don't like the world around me doesn't mean I have to be a monster or with out cause. Try to enjoy life and take each experience as a stepping stone to where you are going. Reality is Perspective.
You can not live everyday with the fear of an untimely death because in doing so you will never truly live. There is comfort in knowing that whatever awaits us on the other side, even if it’s a void of nothingness, we will not be the first nor the last person to experience death. After coming to terms with mortality, embrace life while you still have it and let death concern itself. It will knock on your door when it’s ready for you and you should answer with confidence.
That moment when you have already thought through the same things and gotten to similar results as most of the topics presented by a man you’ve never heard of
Same reason people like Critikal have an audience of literal millions and Morgan Freeman is adored worldwide. Most of us aren’t 10 anymore, we don’t need someone screaming at us with fake passion to stay engaged
That reasoning for not pursuing Buddhism is the best I've heard someone give. I remember feeling like there was a fundamental conflict between how my mind worked, and how it would need to work to have truly transcended anything... and what that would necessitate sacrificing that I had always seen as so integral to who I was since childhood.
The living are a very rare type of dead; many do not understand understanding is blunder; a human blunder. I have found being as a verb rather than a state, to be freeing and ecstatic. In dance one finds truth.
I like Emil Cioran and ive never viewed his stuff as scary. He is just extremely realistic. He understands life and is not distracted by the small things we use to distract ourselves and doesn’t fall into human centrism. His books on anti natalism is probably the most important and the strongest pro choice philosophy anyone can have. Because who has a right to bring someone to life. Forcing to experience every inconvenience they will? Adopt. Don’t bring life into this world. It’s selfish at core to fulfill legacy and expectations.
After taking a dive into Nietzshce, it's a little upsetting seeing him depicted as a proponent of nihilism. His agenda was anti-nihilistic. He had some quotes that might make it look like he was preaching nihilism when taken out of context, but his goal in talking about nihilism was a solution to it, not supporting or spreading it.
Did anyone else laugh their ass off when he quoted his mother saying "If I knew how miserable my son would be, I would've aborted him" Haha! Thanks mom
Emmerich August As a whole Romania at the time probably had less development than parts of Asia. Keep in mind millions still lived in poverty, and as the video states, for much of his life he lived in poverty. You should not assume, just because some parts of Europe were developed, all of Europe was developed
@Emmerich August Bro, Rumania isn´t rich, just because it´s in Europe and they are white it doesn´t mean they are rich. In fact they are more or less as rich as Mexico or Brazil, and that´s now. 20 years ago they were as poor as Honduras.
The term depressed is so overused in media where everyone immediately identifies themselves as a depressed individual despite only feeling a bit lonely. It's really hard to determine who is who at this time. A much better solution to identify those is to come and see a therapist or something, not diagnosing ones self.
Weird thing is, Cioran was extremely funny and charming. There's a documentary about him on RU-vid and the old guy is adorable. Even when he says terrible things he's saying them in a playful, fun-loving way. Really, truly strange man.
He's not the only one. A lot of Romanians share this trait. They also share his disdain for his own people.. As for the humorous affinity, I'd argue the reason is one of our core philosophies, mockery of misery or "haz de necaz".
@@Lonaticus Ah, interesting...traits of a national character, eh? My country's history is deeply dark and tragic and, likewise, shares some of these traits. Spicy food and pitch black humor, that's us.
@@Undiddley Fatalism and Nihilism are extremely present in Romanian culture nowadays. Yet they are a subversion of our core ideals, which we have inherited from our ancestors, the Dacians. The Dacians saw death as a celebration of one's transition from this world. Christianity changed that perception and now death is seen as a cause for anxiety instead of celebration. So in that matter, in his disdain for Romanian Christian beliefs, Cioran is right. Yet, for all this, he fell for the honeytrap that is nihilism, even when he displayed a trait of our ancestors, mockery over misery.
This. I hate when people call Nietzsche a nihilist or a pessimist (this is literaly what I was taught in school). Heck, you can't even call him a misanthrope. Yes, he hated most people but that's because they're herd, and they're "tired of men" as he says in Genealogy of Morals.
Nietzsche is easily the most misunderstood philosopher of all time. The irony is that he's so misunderstood, that even for people who understand him, it's simply easier to use people's misunderstanding of him to connect with people and make a point, even if Nietzsche himself would argue the point he was making was quite to the contrary of what most people think of his philosophy. It's one of the rare learning tools that is wrong but still useful in its wrongness that a lesson can be taught.
@@SpiderMan-gf1lc He did not hate people he "hated" humanity as a social construct and he was fair enough to include himself into that. He openly loved life and in most of his works he expressed this manically. One could make a psychoanalytical counter-argument that his extremely pathetic (as in full of pathos) love for life (eternal return) was a coping mechanism because he was a very physically sick man (there is some truth to that). Nietzsche wanted to overcome human limits which he saw as cultural and ingrained into language. This is actually his biggest strength- remember he was primarily a philologist. I dont even understand why so many people get nietzsche wrong. He is pretty straight forward and even hyperbolic and repetitive because he did not want to be misunderstood. His life philosophy is exactly opposed to being cynical and vain but kind and hospitable yet assertive and individualistic. Schopenhauer was more of a straight up misanthrope. Nietzsche was just very direct and polemic or "cheeky" when he made fun of the human condition. He is actually really funny, I laughed multiple times reading his work. I do get the gloomy view people have of nietzsche though. Sometimes I really did not buy his love of life and he appeared desperate to me. Still love the guy, he has had a big influence on my life.
As a romanian who spent his adolescence reading the entire work of Emil Cioran, I find this video ... innapropriate for someone who wants to find joy in modern philosophy. First of all, Cioran was, most of the time, a joker. He was propably the funniest philosopher that ever lived. Of course, a dark serious-minded sage at the top of the mountains will find his work as a silly pessimistic joke, but you should read him cum grano salis. Also, he was a good friend with Mircea Eliade (the greatest historian of religions, a fouvorite of Jordan Peterson tho), Eugen Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Michaux and so on.... He wasn't really a far-right guy, but he really detested the reign of Carol II, writting "The Transfiguartion of Romania" which criticized the romanian people, being slightly inferior or very inferior in comparison with other nations (e.g. Bulgaria and Serbians had empires, Romania not). Later on, Carol II established a dictatorship. He shortly moved in Berlin for his studies. He praised Hitler for a better treatment in Germany, but he wasn't an antisemite, his best friend was a jew, burned at Auszchwitz. He wrote mostly for him, his books were most likely some attractive thougts for his friends, he never imagined that he would ever gain succes. Just to be clear, I did't wrote this thing in order to defend Cioran and my adolescence, I think just that he can change your life for the better if you find a shelter in his words. Most of those informations were took from his interviews and a book called "Mon pays". I doubt that you can find a translation in english.
with the recc "him cum grano salis" did you mean the book by Randall Garret? Asking cause I'm interdust in reading but wanna make sure that's the correct writing
I read On The Heights Of Despair a few months ago. When I was really sad I 'd pick it up. It was really comforting. I remember reading one of the aphorisms and being moved to tears from how beautifully he wrote about melancholy.
I don’t understand what this means, but I also don’t care to. I think it’s a reference to a movie or television program, but I don’t plan to watch it. However, if it brings you joy, I am sincerely glad for it. 🙂
As a romanian, we learn little or never about Cioran in school. But what i truly think about Cioran and his life is that even tho he despised his existance and the mediocrity of people around him driven by tasteless music and sex, he still managed to be more full of life than the others. His opinions fueled his rage and his words and thus made him more of a human than others. He was born in the same cold world that both me and you were born into, but it always reflected into who he was, making him still a better person to spend time with than the faceless dolls we pass each day
Humour is the only thing that makes your existence enjoyable. Instead of weeping over it just laugh defiantly at it and so rebel against the hipocrisy and mediocrity of it all. It is just funny. Make yourself meaning. Become who your trully are. But accept your reality. In our cas existence defines essence. No. Nothingness is the essence of existence and we can mold it into what we want it to be.
Facelessness is on you. You re taking to broad a look. Just like if you were saying there s nothing in a puddle or no animal life in a forest. Everyone has a face, just like everything becomes meaningless at a larger scale.
What I always believed is that people who are more sad and shy often prove to be more of a blast to hang around with. If someone is crippled or has features that difference him. life will always push him to be more open to others while living a life of solitude before he finds the right people. I just want to be sure I would have been a good friend to Cioran in life
3:26 was he talking about the woman's soul bearing a corpse ready to die, or is he talking about the woman's womb bearing a "corpse" or we call them, babies.
I honestly find Cioran's work incredibly funny to read, for the most part. It maybe not have been what he wanted but to me there's obviously some really dark sense of humour that permeates his writing. I find a lot of the stuff he writes hard to take seriously, almost satirical of philosophy, but in some others he really nails it. An interesting man, nonetheless, even funnier that he lived 84 years, imagine his contempt.
I read Cioran's A Short History of Decay after watching The School Of Life's video on him, and I wonder whether that channel falls into the trap of romanticising depression. Alain De Botton always has to squeeze a positive out of everything but sometimes thinking isn't meant to be a feel good exercise
I mean tbf wanting to have someone to share your depressive and pessimistic ideas with does seem pretty enticing and that seems to be the positive that Alain de Botton wants us to take away. but tbf being in a community of pessimists (especially one that is full of the types of pessimists that would rather laugh at life's expense rather than wallow in their misery like Cioran) is definitely a slippery slope, but misery loves company, I guess.
Sometimes I wonder if guys like this ever had subjective fun in life. Philosophy is cool and thinking about the abyss is great and all when you're alone, but if you've ever had just a day around friends or people you enjoy being around then its hard, nearly impossible to keep this kind of mindset 24/7. Sure we may be temporary in the vast expanse of infinity, but I'd rather enjoy my short time on this planet then be a total bummer to everyone I'm around.
Maybe this man didn't have friends and spent the majority of his time reading/learning/and writing philosophy. I had a professor at my college like this, he spent all day just doing philosophy. But what sounds fun is if you have friends that also like philosophy and you can talk with them about it.
@@JonathanOvetskiy Cioran was actually described by his friends as a really funny guy, despite his pessimistic philosophy. He even saved one of his best friends (Eugene Ionesco) from suicide.
commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Painting_Horses_in_the_Studio,_A_Self_Portrait_by_Gustav_Adolph_Friedrich.jpg Painting Horses in the Studio, A Self Portrait by Gustav Adolph Friedrich
My old man was a paramedic. He said many people just before death were calm, understood, and had peace with their demise; understandably disturbed, but without panic or terror. Usually had concern for their family but otherwise just went with the current. Perhaps he could've enjoyed his life if he had this vantage point as a child.
I've read a few of Cioran books. He can express some of the most nihilistic/dark ideas one can imagine with very beautiful prose. In his own way he loved life.
"[...] expressing pessimism and misanthropy [...]" *shows picture of Nietzsche and Schopenhauer* Well, Schopenhauer for sure. But Nietzsche, most certainly not. Nietzsche was an optimist. Other than that, great video.
@@billybobarino So what most people commonly think of Nietzsche isn't what he himself wrote but what people took from his work or in a lot of cases - what his sister made of it after he died. She went to Argentinia to build a "new german people" there which probably tells you a lot. Most of what people connect from him to the facists of that time comes from that edit of his work, not his actual writings. Essentially Nietzsches early work recognized that Nihilism and especially its lack of answer is quite a bane and aside his many nervous breakdowns I'd say that his work denotes a opposition to it. Afterall he does support a pursue of passion in art, self ownership and ultimatically a struggle in life. To quote "Nihilism, any aim is lacking, any answer to the question why is lacking. What does nihilism mean? That the highest values devaluate themselfs" making it pointless to him, I'd argue. If you take a look at books published posthumous, like "Will to power" which many take to say Nietzsche was a nihilist was in fact edited by his facist sister. The earlier quote is also from said book, but if you put it more into line with his own work the takeaway is signficantly more positive than that. Obviously I'm also just someone that "takes" his work I hope this wasnt too hard to read, I'm german so quote translation may be a bit wonky. Kind regards!
This philosopher leads me to wonder, can you abuse depression as if it were a drug? Abusing it and or taken advantage of it to pursue knowledge of a different understanding? Miserable abuse maybe, but to each their own chemical. Pick your poison.
He wasn't the scariest philosopher he was he could just see the absurdity of the world we lived in and he called it out he basically embodied the terror management theory
@@thegrandnil764 kind of yes to any logical person I can explain how absurd this world is but not every sees things the same in short were all living just to die every thing in the universe will die including the universe itself so isn't it kinda crazy that we all still so much pointless blood shed war even morals and preservation of life is kinda pointless
@@paul-ye3ut Well I disagree whole heatedly, all these cinical phliosophies rely on nothing but internal intuituition. I'm a very happy person and my life is amazing, so not only do these phliosophies seem kinda just edgy doomer shit, its almost hard to take it as anything more then people stating "I am depressed" through phliosophy.
@@thegrandnil764, well it's not really internal intuition, it's more like a different perspective towards life. Like, if you look at it, life is absurd. What makes it that people have to suffer, and others have great lives like you? And just the meaningless of it all, that no matter what, someday, anything you ever did, accomplish, will be gone, not even memories of it will be left. This is how absurd life is, but that's only my perspective on it. Like this philosopher, who just saw life as a mistake instead of a gift for others. We have all our views on life, and that's the beauty of philosophy.
@@AntonConstanti There is no reason be be as sensitive and as thoughtful as you are now, as being able to relate to this guy does not seem like a pleasurable existence.
Toured Romania a couple years ago and loved it . The country is beautiful ,it's history is fascinating , the food was great , the friendly people are descendants of the many nations , original and invaders from all directions . It is certainly understandable how its social\political turmoil over the century's could cause an intelligent sensitive artist enough sturm und drang . I'm optimistic about the future of Dacia and have many treasured memories of the people , multi-culture ,historic sites and countryside .
There's a definite spiritual tinge, besides buddhist influences, where suffering is seen as producing great metamorphoses and the most valuable metaphysical revelations.
I’m probably odd in that I found many of his thoughts supremely hilarious, but then again you did mention his humorous aspects. I think he’s right about much, but was missing some of the keys that Camus discovered about living it up despite the fact that it might not have permanent meaning or grand purpose. That, and curtailing one’s hedonism just enough not to cause misery to loved ones, is my answer to the problem of existence! Come what may, devil may care, see yourself as the heroic character who falls flat on his ass to humiliating waves of laughter, gets up, and joins right in with sincerity. It’s all just a dream, right? See you, space cowboy. You’re gonna carry that weight.
