„A filozófia túlságosan elviselhetetlen, s ez a legnagyobb hiányossága. Hiányzik belőle a pátosz, az alkohol, a szerelem. Mi a művész? Egy ember, aki mindent tud – de ezt nem tudatosítja. Hát a filozófus? Egy ember, aki a tudatossággal él, de nem tud semmit.“

—  Emil Cioran

Gondolatok alkonyában (Amurgul gândurilor)

„Nem én szenvedek a világban, hanem a világ szenved bennem.“

—  Emil Cioran

„A Gonosz felvette az Idő álnevet… Az unalom betekintést ad az örökkévalóságba, mely nem a legyőzött idő, hanem csak annak romjai.“

—  Emil Cioran

Zuhanás az időben (La chute dans le temps, 1964)

„Csak az ellenségeinknek és néhány minket nem szerető barát számára létezünk, más senkinek.“

—  Emil Cioran

„Vélemények: igen; meggyőződések: nem. Ezek az intellektuális büszkeség kiindulópontjai.“

—  Emil Cioran

„Elfogadom, hogy az utolsó ember legyek, ha embernek lenni azt jelenti, hogy hasonlítsak a többihez.“

—  Emil Cioran

„I live only because it is in my power to die when I choose to: without the idea of suicide, I'd have killed myself right away.“

—  Emil M. Cioran

All Gall Is Divided (1952)

„We must live, you used to say, as if we were never going to die. - Didn't you know that's how everyone lives, including those obsessed with Death?“

—  Emil M. Cioran

Drawn and Quartered (1983)

„We define only out of despair, we must have a formula… to give a facade to the void.“

—  Emil M. Cioran, könyv A Short History of Decay

A Short History of Decay (1949)

„To act is to anchor in the imminent future.“

—  Emil M. Cioran, könyv History and Utopia

History and Utopia (1960)

„If you don't want to explode with rage, leave your memory alone, abstain from burrowing there.“

—  Emil M. Cioran

Anathemas and Admirations (1987)

„I thought that the only action a man could perform without shame was to take his life; that he had no right to diminish himself in the succession of days and the inertic of misery. No elect, I kept telling myself, but those who committed suicide.“

—  Emil M. Cioran, könyv A Short History of Decay

A Short History of Decay (1949)

„Long before physics or psychology were born, pain disintegrated matter, and affliction the soul.“

—  Emil M. Cioran

All Gall Is Divided (1952)

„Man is fulfilled only when he ceases to be man.“

—  Emil M. Cioran

Drawn and Quartered (1983)

„Philosophy offers an antidote to melancholy. And many still believe in the depth of philosophy!“

—  Emil M. Cioran

All Gall Is Divided (1952)

„…all of the philosophers put together are not worth a single saint.“

—  Emil M. Cioran

Tears and Saints (1937)

„When we know what words are worth, the amazing thing is that we try to say anything at all, and that we manage to do so. This requires, it is true, a supernatural nerve.“

—  Emil M. Cioran

Drawn and Quartered (1983)

„If there is anyone who owes everything to Bach, it is certainly God.“

—  Emil M. Cioran

All Gall Is Divided (1952)

„Of all that makes us suffer, nothing — so much as disappointment — gives us the sensation of at last touching Truth.“

—  Emil M. Cioran

Anathemas and Admirations (1987)