--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you try to convert someone, it will…" description: "\"“If you try to convert someone, it will never be to effect his salvation but to make him suffer like yourself, to be sure he is exposed to the same ord..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/emil-m-cioran-2951_convictions_if-you-try-to-convert-someone-it-will-ne_2057931.jpg" --- # If you try to convert someone, it will never be to effect… ![“If you try to convert someone, it will never be to effect his salvation but to make him suffer like yourself, to be sure he is exposed to the same ordeals and endures them with the same impatience. You keep watch, you pray, you agonize-provided he does too, sighing, groaning, beset by the same…” quote by Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/emil-m-cioran-2951_convictions_if-you-try-to-convert-someone-it-will-ne_2057931.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/emil-m-cioran-2951_convictions_if-you-try-to-convert-someone-it-will-ne_2057931.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/emil-m-cioran-2951_convictions_if-you-try-to-convert-someone-it-will-ne_2057931.jpg) > ““If you try to convert someone, it will never be to effect his salvation but to make him suffer like yourself, to be sure he is exposed to the same ordeals and endures them with the same impatience. You keep watch, you pray, you agonize-provided he does too, sighing, groaning, beset by the same tortures that are racking you. Intolerance is the work of ravaged souls whose faith comes down to a more or less deliberate torment they would like to see generalized, instituted. The happiness of others never having been a motive or principle of action, it is invoked only to appease conscience or to parade noble excuses: whenever we determine upon an action, the impulse leading to it and forcing us to complete it is almost always inadmissible. No one saves anyone; for we save only ourselves, and do so all the better if we disguise as convictions the misery we want to share, to lavish on others. However glamorous its appearances, proselytism nonetheless derives from a suspect generosity, worse in its effects than a patent aggression. No one is willing to endure alone the discipline he may even have assented to, nor the yoke he has shouldered. Vindication reverberates beneath the missionary's bonhomie, the apostle's joy. We convert not to liberate but to enchain. Once someone is shackled by a certainty, he envies your vague opinions, your resistance to dogmas or slogans, your blissful incapacity to commit yourself.”” [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Attempting to force belief onto others creates shared suffering rather than salvation, revealing intolerance as a self‑inflicted torment. **In simple terms:** Forcing faith causes pain for both sides. Key Takeaway Recognize that true compassion respects autonomy. Themes intolerance proselytism self‑sacrifice Mood reflective somber Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - personal relationships - spiritual counseling - conflict resolution Key Concepts existentialism psychology religion Questions to Reflect On - What motivates you to share your beliefs? - How can you support others without imposing? A Different Perspective It can ignore genuine desire for meaning, reducing dialogue to coercion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Appease Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appease-conscience-2777600/) [Convictions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convictions/) [Cynicism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/) [Deceit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceit/) [Effect Salvation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effect-salvation-3910918/) [Intolerance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intolerance/) [Misery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery/) [Pessimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pessimism/) [Redemption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/redemption/) [Vindication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vindication/) [Vindication Reverberates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vindication-reverberates-3910917/) ## Related quotes > [“An apology given just to appease one's conscience is self-serving and better left unspoken!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evinda-lepins/an-apology-given-just-to-appease-one-s-conscience-is-self-serving-and/) [Evinda Lepins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evinda-lepins/) > [I tell Thee that man is tormented by no greater anxiety than to find someone quickly to whom he can hand over that gift…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/i-tell-thee-that-man-is-tormented-by-no-greater-anxiety-than-to-find-2/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [Strengthen the female mind by enlarging it, and there will be an end to blind obedience; but, as blind obedience is ever sought for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/strengthen-the-female-mind-by-enlarging-it-and-there-will-be-an-end/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [“Another vindication I had is the fact that I believed the Christian message and the gospel of the kingdom is good enough to fix…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/another-vindication-i-had-is-the-fact-that-i-believed-the-christian/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [What does it matter whether I am shown to be right! I am right too much!--And he who laughs best today will also laugh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-does-it-matter-whether-i-am-shown-to-be-right-i-am-right-too/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [In the education of women, the cultivation of the understanding is always subordinate to the acquirement of some corporeal accomplishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/in-the-education-of-women-the-cultivation-of-the-understanding-is/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [“Elijah was vindicated then and there as being a true man of God. Not everybody gets vindication that soon. For some it takes years.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-t-kendall/elijah-was-vindicated-then-and-there-as-being-a-true-man-of-god-not/) [R. T. Kendall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-t-kendall/) > [Elinor was to be the comforter of others in her own distresses, no less than in theirs; and all the comfort that could be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/elinor-was-to-be-the-comforter-of-others-in-her-own-distresses-no/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Men and women must be educated, in a great degree, by the opinions and manners of the society they live in. In every age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/men-and-women-must-be-educated-in-a-great-degree-by-the-opinions-and-2/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [In the resurrection there is already wrapped up a judging-process, at least for believers: the raising act in their case, together with the attending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geerhardus-vos/in-the-resurrection-there-is-already-wrapped-up-a-judging-process-at/) [Geerhardus Vos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geerhardus-vos/) > [To be a good mother, a woman must have sense, and that independence of mind which few women possess who are taught to depend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/to-be-a-good-mother-a-woman-must-have-sense-and-that-independence-of/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [Testing proves a programmer’s failure. Debugging is the programmer’s vindication.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-beizer/testing-proves-a-programmer-s-failure-debugging-is-the-programmer-s/) [Boris Beizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-beizer/) > [I believe in hard work, but I believe in vindication as well. You have a few nightmares, I imagine, before you reach your dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cody-rhodes/i-believe-in-hard-work-but-i-believe-in-vindication-as-well-you-have/) [Cody Rhodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cody-rhodes/) > [“Don’t pretend to ask for advice when you’re looking for vindication.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-alvear/don-t-pretend-to-ask-for-advice-when-you-re-looking-for-vindication/) [Michael Alvear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-alvear/) > [A man does not have to feel less than human to realize his sin; oppositely, he has to realize that he gets no special…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/a-man-does-not-have-to-feel-less-than-human-to-realize-his-sin/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) ## More by Emil M. Cioran > [“If we do not regard ourselves as entrusted with a mission, existence is difficult; action, impossible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/if-we-do-not-regard-ourselves-as-entrusted-with-a-mission-existence/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) > [“In the fact of being born there is such an absence of necessity that when you think about it a little more than usual,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/in-the-fact-of-being-born-there-is-such-an-absence-of-necessity-that/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) > [“Filming a scene, there are countless takes of the same incident. Someone watching in the street - obviously a provincial - can't get over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/filming-a-scene-there-are-countless-takes-of-the-same-incident/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) > [“If I reflect on any moment of my life, the most feverish or the most neutral, what remains? — and what difference is there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/if-i-reflect-on-any-moment-of-my-life-the-most-feverish-or-the-most/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) > [“You’re against everything that’s been done since the last war,” said the very up-to-date lady. “You’ve got the wrong date: I’m against everything that’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/you-re-against-everything-that-s-been-done-since-the-last-war-said/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) > [“Call it insensitivity or a passion for remorse, I have never undertaken to rescue what little Absolute this world contains.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/call-it-insensitivity-or-a-passion-for-remorse-i-have-never/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) > [“Nothing more aggravating than a seamless, unremitting irony which leaves you no time to breathe and still less to think; which instead of being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/nothing-more-aggravating-than-a-seamless-unremitting-irony-which/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) > [“What makes bad poets worse is that they read only poets (just as bad philosophers read only philosophers), whereas they would benefit much more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/what-makes-bad-poets-worse-is-that-they-read-only-poets-just-as-bad/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) > [“The worst crimes are committed out of enthusiasm, a morbid state responsible for almost all public and private disasters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/the-worst-crimes-are-committed-out-of-enthusiasm-a-morbid-state/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) > [“There is nothing to say about anything. So there can be no limit to the number of books.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/there-is-nothing-to-say-about-anything-so-there-can-be-no-limit-to/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) > [“Every form of haste, even toward the good, betrays some mental disorder.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/every-form-of-haste-even-toward-the-good-betrays-some-mental-disorder/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) > [“The emphasis on birth is no more than the craving for the insoluble carried to the point of insanity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/the-emphasis-on-birth-is-no-more-than-the-craving-for-the-insoluble/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) > [“There are nights that the most ingenious torturers could not have invented. We emerge from them in pieces, stupid, dazed, with neither memories nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/there-are-nights-that-the-most-ingenious-torturers-could-not-have/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) > [“When I torment myself a little too much for not working, I tell myself that I might just as well be dead and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/when-i-torment-myself-a-little-too-much-for-not-working-i-tell-myself/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) > [“Truth remains hidden to the man filled with desire and hatred” (Buddha)…. Which is to say, to every man alive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/truth-remains-hidden-to-the-man-filled-with-desire-and-hatred-buddha/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) [Explore all 117 Emil M. Cioran quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) ## More Convictions quotes > [“The construction of life is at present in the power of facts far more than of convictions, and of such facts as have scarcely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/the-construction-of-life-is-at-present-in-the-power-of-facts-far-more/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [I don't think Ed Miliband has the courage of his convictions. He's scared he'll be painted by the rightwing press as a throwback to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-lucas/i-don-t-think-ed-miliband-has-the-courage-of-his-convictions-he-s/) [Caroline Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-lucas/) > [“Because some people never grow up, or not in a way that allows them to develop the courage of their convictions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-fesperman/because-some-people-never-grow-up-or-not-in-a-way-that-allows-them-to/) [Dan Fesperman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-fesperman/) > [The convictions that leaders have formed before reaching high office are the intellectual capital they will consume as long as they continue in office.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/the-convictions-that-leaders-have-formed-before-reaching-high-office/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) > [In this kind of situation, we tend to cling to his convictions, we believe that, by magic, we are going to recover. Then we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacky-ickx/in-this-kind-of-situation-we-tend-to-cling-to-his-convictions-we/) [Jacky Ickx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacky-ickx/) > [Don't worry about what others think of you. It doesn't matter as long as you have your own convictions and are proud of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rvm/don-t-worry-about-what-others-think-of-you-it-doesn-t-matter-as-long/) [RVM](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rvm/) > [“In response to my father-in-law's view, I offered no opinion. He was not looking for my opinion. He had merely been spouting his belief,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/in-response-to-my-father-in-law-s-view-i-offered-no-opinion-he-was/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [In religion and politics, people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/in-religion-and-politics-people-s-beliefs-and-convictions-are-in/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The men who succeed best in public life are those who take the risk of standing by their own convictions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-men-who-succeed-best-in-public-life-are-those-who-take-the-risk/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [“Convictions and the man--it seems they're two different things in many ways. Maybe in many ways I'm guilty before them!...We're all guilty, we're all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/convictions-and-the-man-it-seems-they-re-two-different-things-in-many/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [“Accusations are convictions in the public mind. You are guilty until proven innocent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coben/accusations-are-convictions-in-the-public-mind-you-are-guilty-until/) [Coben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coben/) > [“Allow yourself time to heal and transform into the ultimate you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asa-don-brown/allow-yourself-time-to-heal-and-transform-into-the-ultimate-you/) [Asa Don Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asa-don-brown/) > [I don't think that my particular religious convictions should be held against me in this campaign any more than the Prime Minister's lack of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-abbott/i-don-t-think-that-my-particular-religious-convictions-should-be-held/) [Tony Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-abbott/) > [Wrongful convictions need to be addressed in America. There are a lot of Brian Banks behind bars right now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-banks/wrongful-convictions-need-to-be-addressed-in-america-there-are-a-lot/) [Brian Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-banks/) > [What are the moral convictions most fondly held by barbarous and semi-barbarous people? They are the convictions that authority is the soundest basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/what-are-the-moral-convictions-most-fondly-held-by-barbarous-and-semi/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) [Browse all 181 Convictions quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convictions/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If you try to convert someone, it will never be to effect his salvation but to make him suffer like yourself, to be sure he is exposed to the same ordeals and endures them with the same impatience. You keep watch, you pray, you agonize-provided he does too, sighing, groaning, beset by the same tortures that are racking you. Intolerance is the work of ravaged souls whose faith comes down to a more or less deliberate torment they would like to see generalized, instituted. The happiness of others never having been a motive or principle of action, it is invoked only to appease conscience or to parade noble excuses: whenever we determine upon an action, the impulse leading to it and forcing us to complete it is almost always inadmissible. No one saves anyone; for we save only ourselves, and do so all the better if we disguise as convictions the misery we want to share, to lavish on others. However glamorous its appearances, proselytism nonetheless derives from a suspect generosity, worse in its effects than a patent aggression. No one is willing to endure alone the discipline he may even have assented to, nor the yoke he has shouldered. Vindication reverberates beneath the missionary's bonhomie, the apostle's joy. We convert not to liberate but to enchain. Once someone is shackled by a certainty, he envies your vague opinions, your resistance to dogmas or slogans, your blissful incapacity to commit yourself.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Emil M. Cioran" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/if-you-try-to-convert-someone-it-will-never-be-to-effect-his/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Convictions" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/if-you-try-to-convert-someone-it-will-never-be-to-effect-his/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/emil-m-cioran-2951_convictions_if-you-try-to-convert-someone-it-will-ne_2057931.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/emil-m-cioran-2951_convictions_if-you-try-to-convert-someone-it-will-ne_2057931.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/emil-m-cioran-2951_convictions_if-you-try-to-convert-someone-it-will-ne_2057931.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you try to convert someone, it will never be to effect his salvation but to make him suffer like…” — Emil M. 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 M. Cioran", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“If you try to convert someone,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/if-you-try-to-convert-someone-it-will-never-be-to-effect-his/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/if-you-try-to-convert-someone-it-will-never-be-to-effect-his/#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 } } ] } ```