---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have never taken myself for a being. A…"
description: "\"“I have never taken myself for a being. A non-citizen, a marginal type, a nothing who exists only by the excess, by the superabundance of his nothingne..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d59/emil-cioran-523_nothingness_i-have-never-taken-myself-for-a-being-a_2797899.jpg"
---

#  I have never taken myself for a being. A non-citizen, a…

![“I have never taken myself for a being. A non-citizen, a marginal type, a nothing who exists only by the excess, by the superabundance of his nothingness.” quote by Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d59/emil-cioran-523_nothingness_i-have-never-taken-myself-for-a-being-a_2797899.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d59/emil-cioran-523_nothingness_i-have-never-taken-myself-for-a-being-a_2797899.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d59/emil-cioran-523_nothingness_i-have-never-taken-myself-for-a-being-a_2797899.jpg)

> ““I have never taken myself for a being. A non-citizen, a marginal type, a nothing who exists only by the excess, by the superabundance of his nothingness.””

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The speaker denies a fixed identity, seeing themselves as a marginal, empty being defined only by excess and nothingness.

**In simple terms:** I am no being, only excess and nothingness.

Key Takeaway

Question the notion of a stable self.

Themes

identity nihilism existentialism

Mood

somber reflective

Type

philosophical existential

When to use this quote

- personal crisis
- creative expression
- mental health

Key Concepts

philosophical inquiry self‑concept

Questions to Reflect On

- What does “nothingness” mean to you?
- Can emptiness be a space for creation?

A Different Perspective

This view can lead to despair if not balanced with meaning.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Nothingness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothingness/)

## Related quotes

> [Wanted by many taken by non searching for that right one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sierra/wanted-by-many-taken-by-non-searching-for-that-right-one/)

[Sierra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sierra/)

> [Non-citizen terrorist suspects are not members of the American national community, and they have no proper claim on the rights Americans accord one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-perle/non-citizen-terrorist-suspects-are-not-members-of-the-american/)

[Richard Perle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-perle/)

> [“The notion of nothingness is not characteristic of laboring humanity: those who toil have neither time nor inclination to weigh their dust; they resign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/the-notion-of-nothingness-is-not-characteristic-of-laboring-humanity/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [“So long as our untried senses and our naïve heart recognize themselves and delight in the universe of qualifications, they flourish with the aid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/so-long-as-our-untried-senses-and-our-na-ve-heart-recognize/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [When death claim me, no doubt I would walk along by that faint light in the brief instant before being flung once again into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-death-claim-me-no-doubt-i-would-walk-along-by-that-faint-light/)

[Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/)

> [In order that love be fully satisfied, It is necessary that It lower Itself and that It lower Itself to nothingness and transform this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-order-that-love-be-fully-satisfied-it-is-necessary-that-it-lower/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [My loneliness...still comes over me sometimes...It's a liminal, lost sensation of having wandered wide, endless boulevards, among rows of orange trees, winter butterflies, seasons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-roth/my-loneliness-still-comes-over-me-sometimes-it-s-a-liminal-lost/)

[Marco Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-roth/)

> [“ Programs has a temporary results leading to nothingness, and the Gospel the brings the result of Eternal life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommie-scott/programs-has-a-temporary-results-leading-to-nothingness-and-the/)

Tommie Scott

> [“I was introduced to the void by the rebuffed nothingness. Reddedilmiş hiçlik tarafından boşlukla tanıştırıldım.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/i-was-introduced-to-the-void-by-the-rebuffed-nothingness-reddedilmi/)

[Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/)

> [Bullies enjoy dark happiness; these are the blank parts that eventually fill their minds with nothingness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-shanks/bullies-enjoy-dark-happiness-these-are-the-blank-parts-that/)

Emily Shanks

> [This isn't a picture filled with wonder and a sense of fun; it's so jaded and crass that I almost wonder if it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-zacharek/this-isn-t-a-picture-filled-with-wonder-and-a-sense-of-fun-it-s-so/)

[Stephanie Zacharek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-zacharek/)

> [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/)

[Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/)

> [ \[The Community's\] crosses and trials give me confidence. But I derive my hope above all, and most especially, from our utter incapacity, for it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-guerin/the-community-s-crosses-and-trials-give-me-confidence-but-i-derive-my/)

[Theodore Guerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-guerin/)

> [“This book is written in a barren period of loss with an attempt to move forward towards substance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phindiwe-nkosi/this-book-is-written-in-a-barren-period-of-loss-with-an-attempt-to/)

[Phindiwe Nkosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phindiwe-nkosi/)

> [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/)

[John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/)

## More by Emil Cioran

> [“Eu nu am idei ci obsesii. Idei poate avea oricine. Nimeni nu s-a prăbușit din cauza ideilor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/eu-nu-am-idei-ci-obsesii-idei-poate-avea-oricine-nimeni-nu-s-a-pr-bu/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [“For a long while I have lived with the notion that I was the most normal being that ever existed. This notion gave me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/for-a-long-while-i-have-lived-with-the-notion-that-i-was-the-most/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [“Natura s-a arătat darnică numai cu cei pe care i-a scutit de obsesia morţii. Dacă-i firesc să mori, nu-i deloc firesc să zaboveşti asupra…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/natura-s-a-ar-tat-darnic-numai-cu-cei-pe-care-i-a-scutit-de-obsesia/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [“Having always lived in fear of being surprised by the worst, I have tried in every circumstance to get a head start, flinging myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/having-always-lived-in-fear-of-being-surprised-by-the-worst-i-have/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [“I would like to be free, totaly free... free like an aborted child.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/i-would-like-to-be-free-totaly-free-free-like-an-aborted-child/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [“We had nothing to say to one another, and while I was manufacturing my phrases I felt that earth was falling through space and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/we-had-nothing-to-say-to-one-another-and-while-i-was-manufacturing-my/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [“It is no sign of benediction to have been obsessed with the lives of saints, for it is an obsession intertwined with a taste…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/it-is-no-sign-of-benediction-to-have-been-obsessed-with-the-lives-of/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [“His power to adore is responsible for all his crimes: a man who loves a god unduly forces other men to love his god,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/his-power-to-adore-is-responsible-for-all-his-crimes-a-man-who-loves/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [“Tell me how you want to die, and I’ll tell you who you are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/tell-me-how-you-want-to-die-and-i-ll-tell-you-who-you-are/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [One should live and die where one was born... I've been bored everywhere I went. What was the point of leaving Coasta Boacu?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/one-should-live-and-die-where-one-was-born-i-ve-been-bored-everywhere/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [“I cannot imagine that there could be someone whose childhood could compare to mine. The sky and the earth belonged to me, literally, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/i-cannot-imagine-that-there-could-be-someone-whose-childhood-could/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [“A fi sau a nu fi? Nici una nici alta.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/a-fi-sau-a-nu-fi-nici-una-nici-alta/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [“Dispretul oamenilor ma intareste, si nu le cer decat o favoare - sa nu insemn nimic in ochii lor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/dispretul-oamenilor-ma-intareste-si-nu-le-cer-decat-o-favoare-sa-nu/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [“Nobody would dare look at himself in the mirror, because a grotesque, tragic image would mix in the contours of his face with stains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/nobody-would-dare-look-at-himself-in-the-mirror-because-a-grotesque/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [“Since it is difficult to approve the reasons people invoke, each time we leave one of our 'fellow men', the question which comes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/since-it-is-difficult-to-approve-the-reasons-people-invoke-each-time/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

[Explore all 260 Emil Cioran quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

## More Nothingness quotes

> [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/)

[John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/)

> [“This book is written in a barren period of loss with an attempt to move forward towards substance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phindiwe-nkosi/this-book-is-written-in-a-barren-period-of-loss-with-an-attempt-to/)

[Phindiwe Nkosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phindiwe-nkosi/)

> [ \[The Community's\] crosses and trials give me confidence. But I derive my hope above all, and most especially, from our utter incapacity, for it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-guerin/the-community-s-crosses-and-trials-give-me-confidence-but-i-derive-my/)

[Theodore Guerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-guerin/)

> [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/)

[Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/)

> [This isn't a picture filled with wonder and a sense of fun; it's so jaded and crass that I almost wonder if it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-zacharek/this-isn-t-a-picture-filled-with-wonder-and-a-sense-of-fun-it-s-so/)

[Stephanie Zacharek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-zacharek/)

> [Bullies enjoy dark happiness; these are the blank parts that eventually fill their minds with nothingness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-shanks/bullies-enjoy-dark-happiness-these-are-the-blank-parts-that/)

Emily Shanks

> [“I was introduced to the void by the rebuffed nothingness. Reddedilmiş hiçlik tarafından boşlukla tanıştırıldım.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/i-was-introduced-to-the-void-by-the-rebuffed-nothingness-reddedilmi/)

[Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/)

> [“ Programs has a temporary results leading to nothingness, and the Gospel the brings the result of Eternal life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommie-scott/programs-has-a-temporary-results-leading-to-nothingness-and-the/)

Tommie Scott

> [My loneliness...still comes over me sometimes...It's a liminal, lost sensation of having wandered wide, endless boulevards, among rows of orange trees, winter butterflies, seasons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-roth/my-loneliness-still-comes-over-me-sometimes-it-s-a-liminal-lost/)

[Marco Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-roth/)

> [In order that love be fully satisfied, It is necessary that It lower Itself and that It lower Itself to nothingness and transform this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-order-that-love-be-fully-satisfied-it-is-necessary-that-it-lower/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [When death claim me, no doubt I would walk along by that faint light in the brief instant before being flung once again into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-death-claim-me-no-doubt-i-would-walk-along-by-that-faint-light/)

[Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/)

> [“Everything is mostly nothing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-demarest/everything-is-mostly-nothing/)

Lynn Demarest

> [“ I Am! I am—yet what I am none cares or knows; My friends forsake me like a memory lost: I am the self-consumer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clare/i-am-i-am-yet-what-i-am-none-cares-or-knows-my-friends-forsake-me/)

[John Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clare/)

> [Things are only mannequins and even the great world-historical events are only costumes beneath which they exchange glances with nothingness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/things-are-only-mannequins-and-even-the-great-world-historical-events/)

[Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/)

> [“Garraty thought that memories were like a line drawn in the dirt. The further back you went the scuffier and harder to see that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bachman/garraty-thought-that-memories-were-like-a-line-drawn-in-the-dirt-the/)

[Richard Bachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bachman/)

[Browse all 776 Nothingness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothingness/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“I have never taken myself for a being. A non-citizen, a marginal type, a nothing who exists only by the excess, by the superabundance of his nothingness.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Emil Cioran"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/i-have-never-taken-myself-for-a-being-a-non-citizen-a-marginal-type-a/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Nothingness"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/i-have-never-taken-myself-for-a-being-a-non-citizen-a-marginal-type-a/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d59/emil-cioran-523_nothingness_i-have-never-taken-myself-for-a-being-a_2797899.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d59/emil-cioran-523_nothingness_i-have-never-taken-myself-for-a-being-a_2797899.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d59/emil-cioran-523_nothingness_i-have-never-taken-myself-for-a-being-a_2797899.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I have never taken myself for a being. A non-citizen, a marginal type, a nothing who exists only by the…” — Emil Cioran",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Emil Cioran",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“I have never taken myself for...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/i-have-never-taken-myself-for-a-being-a-non-citizen-a-marginal-type-a/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/i-have-never-taken-myself-for-a-being-a-non-citizen-a-marginal-type-a/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
