Bataille, Georges

"The technological age represents the final triumph of reason over life."

"Literature that comforts us is literature that betrays us."

"Political movements are merely organized forms of repression."

"Motivation rooted in fear is the only kind most humans understand."

"Inspiration arrives only when we have abandoned all hope of its arrival."

"The strongest relationships are built on acknowledged transgression."

"Only in solitude does the individual discover their true nature."

"The peace we seek is the peace of the grave."

"Education teaches us to despise what makes us human."

"Knowledge is the weapon the weak have forged against the strong."

"Time is the enemy of authenticity; it permits us to forget ourselves."

"Truth is only available to those willing to abandon reason."

"Family is the first institution that teaches us to betray ourselves."

"The science of the soul is written in the excesses of the body."

"Music is the sound of the sacred attempting to break through language."

"The melody of authentic existence is discordant to civilized ears."

"We celebrate births and mourn deaths, but both are equally indifferent."

"Strength is not the ability to endure but the power to destroy."

"The powerful fear laughter more than they fear weapons."

"Happiness is what we feel when we have stopped trying to feel happy."

"Success is merely failure that has learned to disguise itself."

"Friendship between authentic individuals is a form of mutual transgression."

"The imagination of the repressed is the only truly dangerous thing."

"Technology promises liberation while it perfects our enslavement."

"History repeats itself because we refuse to learn from the sacred within it."

"Philosophy begins where language fails to contain experience."

"The literary form that matters most is the one that cannot be published."

"Politics is the art of organizing repression on behalf of the masses."

"War is the only moment when humanity approaches its true potential."

"Motivation without transgression is merely the motivation of slaves."