Bataille, Georges

"Existence precedes essence in the realm of experience."

"History is the story of humankind's violation of its own taboos."

"The sacred and the profane are inseparable."

"To understand yourself is to understand the abyss within you."

"Consciousness is the wound that will never heal."

"Art is the recovery of the sacred in a world stripped of meaning."

"We are not happy; we are only sometimes less unhappy."

"Power is the ability to waste without purpose."

"Suffering is the price of consciousness."

"The erotic experience is the dissolution of form."

"Money is congealed labor, and labor is congealed time."

"Politics is the art of imposing one's will on others."

"The myth is the shadow cast by reality."

"Desire is always the desire for something we cannot have."

"Fear is the foundation of all social order."

"To be free is to be terrified."

"The greatest transgression is to refuse to transgress."

"In the face of death, all beliefs collapse."

"The authentic self emerges only in the transgression of limits."

"Communication is always a failure that we mistake for success."

"The sacred demands sacrifice."

"Time is the space between desire and its fulfillment."

"Beauty is the promise of a happiness we can never achieve."

"The human animal is the only one capable of laughter."

"We are trapped in language, which is itself a prison."

"History is the narrative we construct to make sense of chaos."

"The self is nothing but a collection of contradictions."

"To create is to violate the order of nature."

"The most profound truth cannot be spoken; it can only be experienced."

"Freedom is the burden of creating your own essence."