TEARS AND SAINT

June 2024

Emil Cioran's "Tears and Saints," with its foreword by Ilinca Zarifopol-Johnston, is a captivating exploration of the contradictions inherent in saintliness and the struggle for identity. Cioran's aphoristic style, reminiscent of Nietzsche, delves into the complexities of mysticism, Romanian politics, and spiritual life, revealing a profound fascination with the suffering and asceticism of saints.

At the heart of Cioran's critique lies the concept of the "will to power," a driving force that propels saints to endure immense suffering in pursuit of their faith.

"What fascinates him are their tears, their thirst for pain and their capacity to endure it; in short, the pathology… 'the voluptuousness of suffering' for 'suffering is man's only biography.'" The "tears" in the title symbolize this suffering, the essence of the saints' existence.

Yet, Cioran's stance is not without its contradictions. He acknowledges the Machiavellian nature of the saints' asceticism, where the end justifies the means.

"All means are legitimate when a people opens a road for itself. Terror, crime, bestiality, and perfidy are base and immoral only in decadence when they defend a vacuum of content; if, on the other hand, they help in the ascension of a people, they are virtues. All triumphs are moral…" This dangerous abyss of contradictions is where Cioran finds himself drawn, grappling with the absence of God and the emergence of a new, aesthetically grim meaning.

Cioran's love-hate relationship with the saints mirrors his own identity struggle. "He looks upon saints as partial alter egos, devout existentialists who 'live in flames' while 'wise men live next to them.'" Cioran himself is caught between skepticism and passion, unable to fully embrace the delusion of faith yet unwilling to discard the suffering of life altogether and live "prophetlessly."

The foreword's final revelation of Cioran's departure from his Romanian roots adds another layer to his identity struggle. By leaving Bucharest and later publishing his first French book, "Precis de decomposition ('A Short History of Decay')," Cioran cast off his Romanian language and identity, "yield[ing] to a long-cherished obsession: to be a man from nowhere." This act of self-reinvention underscores the book's central theme: the quest for meaning and identity in a world devoid of certainty.

"Tears and Saints" is a thought-provoking exploration of the contradictions that define human existence. Through his critique of saintliness and his own personal journey, Cioran invites us to confront the abyss of meaninglessness and grapple with the complex interplay between faith, suffering, and identity. The work continues to resonate long after Georges Bataille and Rene Girard began exploring similar themes, a testament to the enduring power of his insights.