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Single Idea 19606

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 3. Angst ]

Full Idea

Life is possible only by the deficiencies of our imagination and our memory

Gist of Idea

We can only live because our imagination and memory are poor

Source

E.M. Cioran (A Short History of Decay [1949], 1 'The Key')

Book Ref

Cioran,E.M.: 'A Short History of Decay', ed/tr. Howard,Richard [Penguin 2010], p.28


A Reaction

Does this mean that we should actually aspire to limit our imaginations and memories? Or are we mercifully intrinsically limited, so that massive intellectual ambition will do no harm? We should be told these things, Cioran!


The 18 ideas with the same theme [life permeated by insecurities and meaninglessness]:

If man considers himself as lost and imprisoned in the universe, he will be terrified [Pascal]
Irony is the response to conflicts of involvement and attachment [Schlegel,F, by Pinkard]
Anxiety is not a passing mood, but a response to human freedom [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
The ultimate in life is learning to be anxious in the right way [Kierkegaard]
Ultimate knowledge is being anxious in the right way [Kierkegaard]
Anxiety is staring into the yawning abyss of freedom [Kierkegaard]
The freedom of the subject means the collapse of moral certainty [Nietzsche, by Critchley]
The thought of suicide is a great reassurance on bad nights [Nietzsche]
Anxiety about death frees me to live my own life [Heidegger, by Wrathall]
Anxiety is the uncanniness felt when constantly fleeing from asserting one's own freedom [Heidegger, by Caputo]
Anxiety reveals the possibility and individuality of Dasein [Heidegger]
Fear concerns the world, but 'anguish' comes from confronting my self [Sartre]
Unlike other creatures, mankind seems lost in nature [Cioran]
We can only live because our imagination and memory are poor [Cioran]
Life is now more dreaded than death [Cioran]
In anxiety people cling to what reinforces it, because it is a deep need [Cioran]
If existence is absurd it can never have a meaning [Beauvoir]
Anxiety, nausea, guilt and absurdity shake us up, revealing our freedom and limits [Aho]