more on this theme     |     more from this thinker

Single Idea 23062

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 4. Boredom ]

Full Idea

I do nothing, granted. But I see the hours pass - which is better than trying to fill them.

Gist of Idea

It is better to watch the hours pass, than trying to fill them

Source

E.M. Cioran (The Trouble with Being Born [1973], 01)

Book Ref

Cioran,E.M.: 'The Trouble with Being Born', ed/tr. Richard Howard [Penguin 2012], p.2

A Reaction

As Nietzsche would have pointed out, this came from a man who regularly wrote books. It is, though, certainly worth asking whether the way we fill our time is better than doing nothing.

The 17 ideas from 'The Trouble with Being Born'

23062 It is better to watch the hours pass, than trying to fill them [Cioran]
23063 The first man obviously found paradise unendurable [Cioran]
23064 So-called wisdom is just pondering things instead of acting [Cioran]
23067 Suicide is pointless, because it always comes too late [Cioran]
23066 Negation doesn't arise from reasoning, but from deep instincts [Cioran]
23068 People who really believe anti-realism don't bother to prove it [Cioran]
23065 If only we could write like a reptile, of endless sensations and no concepts! [Cioran]
23069 Fear cures boredom, because it is stronger [Cioran]
23070 We morally dissolve if we spend time with excessive beauty [Cioran]
23071 We could only be responsible if we had consented before birth to who we are [Cioran]
23072 Systems are the worst despotism, in philosophy and in life [Cioran]
23073 Convictions are failures to study anything thoroughly [Cioran]
23076 If people always acted without words we would take them for robots [Cioran]
23075 A text explained ceases to be a text [Cioran]
23074 In anxiety people cling to what reinforces it, because it is a deep need [Cioran]
23077 The word 'being' is very tempting, but in fact means nothing at all [Cioran]
23078 Opinions are fine, but having convictions means something has gone wrong [Cioran]