Home > Work > Infinite Resignation: On Pessimism
61 " Dazai’s novel does not provide any happy endings, eulogies for a nation or a people, or elegies for the human spirit; there are no grand epiphanies, no heroic struggles, no sufferings stoically endured, no wrongs righted or lovers reunited. Dazai’s protagonists take on the task of living only to find themselves more confused and bewildered than before. It’s as if there were some guide book – How To Be Human, And Why – that seems to have been given to everyone else, except you. Dazai’s recurring phrase for this is “the dread of human beings.” Such an estrangement is almost metaphysical – a perplexity about incessantly finding one’s self ensnared in a human world of human beings; as if “being human” were something that happens accidentally, or incidentally. "
― Eugene Thacker , Infinite Resignation: On Pessimism
62 " Suddenly a phrase jumps out: “…I would say be very wary of anyone telling you you’re suffering for a reason…” I forget the question that this was the response to. "
63 " From the austere negations of the ancient Indian materialists, to the funereal perambulations of Schopenhauer, pessimism also has its own ontological argument: existence is that beyond which nothing worse can be conceived. "
64 " There are times when I feel that the only real aptitude of our species is that we can ruin anything. "
65 " The problem with contemporary philosophy is that it begins in helplessness, when it should end with it. We lack even the most rudimentary theory of “giving up. "
66 " Confusion, frustration, depression, spite. Confusion about what I am supposed to do, frustration at my conditions, depression at feeling frustrated and confused, and a general spitefulness towards the world and all people. Every day. Only going for walks and writing in this pedantic notebook help, a little. "
67 " A bit of philosophizing leads to a wonderment of life. A lot of philosophizing leads to a contempt of it. "
68 " I don’t believe in saying anything unless there’s something to say. As time goes on, the less I speak. Boredom, depression, equanimity. "
69 " The only thing more terrifying than the person who has nothing is the person who has everything. Things can only get worse for them. The more you have, the more you have to lose. And in the end everything must be lost. Is it better to not want anything at all? Maybe, but what about the rest of us, who have some things, which we judiciously manage, like archivists? "
70 " [T]he pinnacle of humanity lies in its ability to be disgusted with itself. What really separates us from other forms of life is our ability to detest our kind, to recognize the stupidity of being human. I spite, therefore I am. "
71 " Pessimism’s propositions have all the gravitas of a bad joke. "
72 " Voltaire once described optimism as “a cruel philosophy with a consoling name,” which immediately suggests what pessimism might be: a consoling philosophy with a cruel name. "
73 " Contrary to what the great works of literature tell us, living in the modern city is neither heroic nor tragic - nor even comedic. It's simply pedantic. "
74 " [T]he devastating possibility that "wasting time" and "passing time" amount to the same thing. "
75 " How is it possible to feel nothing but unmitigated spite for so many different kinds of people? "
76 " One senses that for Schopenhauer, the world does exist, and it’s horrible, and there’s not much one can do about it. "