#nih

Nihilism is a natural consequence of a culture (or civilization) ruled and regulated by categories that mask manipulation, mastery and domination of peoples and nature. ↗

— Cornel West

#nihilism #social-science #nature

Why, the whole world of knowledge is not worth that child's prayer to 'dear, kind God'! I say nothing of the sufferings of grown-up people, they have eaten the apple, damn them, and the devil take them all! But these little ones! The Brothers Karamazov Ivan to Alyosha, on the suffering and torture of children, " Book V - Pro and Contra, Chapter 4 - Rebellion. ↗

— Fyodor Dostoyevsky

#community #faith #god #nihilism #suffering

You know, Dag and Claire smile a lot, as do many people I know. But I always wondered if there is something either mechanical or malignant to their smiles, for the way they keep their outer lips propped up seems a bit, not false, but protective. A minor realization hits me as I sit with the two of them. It is the realisation that the smiles that they wear in their daily lives are the same as the smiles worn by people who have been good-naturedly fleeced, but fleeced nonetheless, in public and on a New York sidewalk by card sharks, and who are unable because of social conventions to show their anger, who don't want to look like poor sports. ↗

— Douglas Coupland

#nihilism #ruined-youth #anger

It is a self-deception of philosophers and moralists to imagine that they escape decadence by opposing it. That is beyond their will; and, however little they acknowledge it, one later discovers that they were among the most powerful promoters of decadence. ↗

— Friedrich Nietzsche

#ethics #morality #nihilism #philosohers #philosophy

Every creative story is different. And every creative story is the same. There was nothing. Now there is something. It's almost like magic. ↗

— Jonah Lehrer

#creativity #ex-nihilo #imagination

Why do we argue? Life's so fragile, a successful virus clinging to a speck of mud, suspended in endless nothing. ↗

— Alan Moore

#life

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. ↗

— William Shakespeare

#poetry #villain #life

If nothing had any meaning, you would be right. But there is something that still has a meaning. ↗

— Albert Camus

#existentialism #meaning-of-life #nihilism #the-absurd #life

Love is not an idea, not a feeling, not a sensation, not a sentiment, not a passion, not even an emotion. It is becoming and being not... Ultimate nothingness! Complete self-annihilation! ↗

— Raheel Farooq

#emotion #feeling #idea #love #nothingness

I see in the fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables, slaves with white collars, advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of the history man, no purpose or place, we have no Great war, no Great depression, our great war is a spiritual war, our great depression is our lives, we've been all raised by television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars, but we won't and we're slowly learning that fact. and we're very very pissed off. ↗

— Chuck Palahniuk

#nihilism #space-monkeys #tyler-durden #men