Existentialism & Pessimism

Intrinsically it is a matter of no importance what is the destiny, among the swarms of the “eternal” stars, of this small planet that pursues its course somewhere in infinite space for a little time; still less important, what moves for a couple of instants upon its surface. But each and every one of us, intrinsically a null, is for an unnamably brief moment a lifetime cast into that whirling universe.

—Oswald Spengler, in Man & Technics: A Contribution to a Philosophy of Life. (via vulturehooligan)

(Source: peoniepoetals, via vulturehooligan)

Marie Laforêt

Marie Laforêt

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“It is enough for me to hear someone talk sincerely about ideals, about the future, about philosophy, to hear him say “we" with a certain inflection of assurance, to hear him invoke “others” and regard himself as their interpreter - for me to consider him my enemy.”

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“The more one is obsessed with God, the less one is innocent.   Nobody bothered about him in paradise.   The fall brought about this divine torture.   It’s not possible to be conscious of divinity without guilt.   Thus God is rarely to be found in an innocent soul.”

“I am done with the monster of “We,” the word of serfdom, of plunder, of misery, falsehood and shame. And now I see the face of god, and I raise this god over the earth, this god whom men have sought since men came into being, this god who will grant...

“I am done with the monster of “We,” the word of serfdom, of plunder, of misery, falsehood and shame.   And now I see the face of god, and I raise this god over the earth, this god whom men have sought since men came into being, this god who will grant them joy and peace and pride.   This god, this one word:“I."“

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“The state through which man is said to become reasonably satisfied is, then, the state in which the basis of man’s humanity withers away, or in which man loses his humanity.   It is the state of Nietzsche’s ‘last man.’ Kojève in fact confirms the classical view that unlimited technological progress and its accompaniment, which are the indispensable conditions of the universal and homogeneous state, are destructive of humanity.   It is perhaps possible to say that the universal and homogeneous state is fated to come.   But it is certainly impossible to say that man can reasonably be satisfied with it.   If the universal and homogeneous state is the goal of History, History is absolutely ‘tragic.’” - Restatement On Xenophon’s Hiero

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“Historicism culminated in nihilism.   The attempt to make man at home in this world ended in man’s becoming absolutely homeless.”