--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Lucidity's task: to attain a correct…" description: "\"Lucidity's task: to attain a correct despair, an Olympian ferocity.\" — Emile M. Cioran" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33b/emile-m-cioran-1211_despair_lucidity-s-task-to-attain-a-correct-desp_1302830.jpg" --- # Lucidity's task: to attain a correct despair, an Olympian… ![“Lucidity's task: to attain a correct despair, an Olympian ferocity.” quote by Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33b/emile-m-cioran-1211_despair_lucidity-s-task-to-attain-a-correct-desp_1302830.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33b/emile-m-cioran-1211_despair_lucidity-s-task-to-attain-a-correct-desp_1302830.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33b/emile-m-cioran-1211_despair_lucidity-s-task-to-attain-a-correct-desp_1302830.jpg) > “Lucidity's task: to attain a correct despair, an Olympian ferocity.” [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-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. The quote urges embracing a purposeful despair and fierce resolve, akin to an Olympian spirit. **In simple terms:** Embrace meaningful despair and fierce determination. Key Takeaway Channel despair into disciplined, heroic effort. Themes existentialism resilience philosophy Mood introspective serious Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - artistic creation - personal crisis - philosophical inquiry - athletic training Key Concepts nihilism heroic idealism Questions to Reflect On - How can despair be transformed into strength? - What does “Olympian ferocity” mean to you? A Different Perspective Despair can become paralyzing if not balanced with hope. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Correct Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/correct-despair-4283781/) [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Despair Olympian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair-olympian-4283778/) [Ferocity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ferocity/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Lucidity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lucidity/) [Lucidity Task](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lucidity-task-4283780/) [Olympian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/olympian/) [Olympian Ferocity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/olympian-ferocity-4283779/) [Tasks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tasks/) ## Related quotes > [Does our ferocity not derive from the fact that our instincts are all too interested in other people? If we attended more to ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/does-our-ferocity-not-derive-from-the-fact-that-our-instincts-are-all/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [“...writing with ferocity is a gift, provided that ferocity is a monomaniacal devotion to pursuing the truth ...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/writing-with-ferocity-is-a-gift-provided-that-ferocity-is-a/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [My idea is this, that when you only love a little you're naturally not jealous — or are only jealous also a little, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/my-idea-is-this-that-when-you-only-love-a-little-you-re-naturally-not/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [ I've had a chance to meet some of my civil rights heroes and, more recently, members of the young generation around \[Barack\] Obama, people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/i-ve-had-a-chance-to-meet-some-of-my-civil-rights-heroes-and-more/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [“The rabid ferocity of his reaction had confirmed Mother’s warnings, but I didn’t yet comprehend the depth of the revulsion that I inspired or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/the-rabid-ferocity-of-his-reaction-had-confirmed-mother-s-warnings/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“Every impediment only served to make the inferno within them burn with greater ferocity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-holiday/every-impediment-only-served-to-make-the-inferno-within-them-burn/) [Ryan Holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-holiday/) > [I do not dream of a gentle revolution. My passion runs to the violence of supersession, the ferocity of a life that renounces nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raoul-vaneigem/i-do-not-dream-of-a-gentle-revolution-my-passion-runs-to-the-violence/) [Raoul Vaneigem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raoul-vaneigem/) > [How can such episodes of such savage cruelty happen? The heart of man is an abyss out of which sometimes emerge plots of unspeakable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/how-can-such-episodes-of-such-savage-cruelty-happen-the-heart-of-man/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [Those who march with us will certainly face abuse, misunderstanding, bitter animosity, and possibly the ferocity of struggle and of danger. In return, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-mosley/those-who-march-with-us-will-certainly-face-abuse-misunderstanding/) [Oswald Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-mosley/) > [ \[It is nice\] to explore someone's will to survive, the ferocity of loyalty, how far you would go to protect the ones you love...… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-aselton/it-is-nice-to-explore-someone-s-will-to-survive-the-ferocity-of/) [Katie Aselton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-aselton/) > [ I wish \[my wife\] would \[work\] because - especially now the kind of - I mean, honesty is hardly the word. She writes with… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/i-wish-my-wife-would-work-because-especially-now-the-kind-of-i-mean/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [I am trying so very hard to stay in the moment despite the ferocity of my ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-am-trying-so-very-hard-to-stay-in-the-moment-despite-the-ferocity/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [...to swear with a ferocity that can only be described as a talent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/to-swear-with-a-ferocity-that-can-only-be-described-as-a-talent/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [There was a period... when I used to say, with as much ferocity as I could muster, 'I hate Henry James, and I wish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/there-was-a-period-when-i-used-to-say-with-as-much-ferocity-as-i/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [Why on earth should we be at each other's throats? Why do people insist on defending their ideas and opinions with such ferocity, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-farrell-2/why-on-earth-should-we-be-at-each-other-s-throats-why-do-people/) [J. G. Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-farrell-2/) ## More by Emile M. Cioran > [What does the future, that half of time, matter to the man who is infatuated with eternity?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/what-does-the-future-that-half-of-time-matter-to-the-man-who-is/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [Progress is the injustice each generation commits with regard to its predecessors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/progress-is-the-injustice-each-generation-commits-with-regard-to-its/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [To defy heredity is to defy billions of years, to defy the first cell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/to-defy-heredity-is-to-defy-billions-of-years-to-defy-the-first-cell/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [A people represents not so much an aggregate of ideas and theories as of obsessions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/a-people-represents-not-so-much-an-aggregate-of-ideas-and-theories-as/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > ["The Holy Ghost," Luther instructs us, "is not a skeptic." Not everyone can be, and that is really too bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/the-holy-ghost-luther-instructs-us-is-not-a-skeptic-not-everyone-can/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [Every word affords me pain. Yet how sweet it would be if I could hear what the flowers have to say about death!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/every-word-affords-me-pain-yet-how-sweet-it-would-be-if-i-could-hear/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [Woes and wonders of Power, that tonic hell, synthesis of poison and panacea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/woes-and-wonders-of-power-that-tonic-hell-synthesis-of-poison-and/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [If each of us were to confess his most secret desire, the one that inspires all his plans, all his actions, he would say:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/if-each-of-us-were-to-confess-his-most-secret-desire-the-one-that/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [He who hates himself is not humble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/he-who-hates-himself-is-not-humble/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [Impossible to spend sleepless nights and accomplish anything: if, in my youth, my parents had not financed my insomnias, I should surely have killed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/impossible-to-spend-sleepless-nights-and-accomplish-anything-if-in-my/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [One is and remains a slave as long as one is not cured of hoping.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/one-is-and-remains-a-slave-as-long-as-one-is-not-cured-of-hoping/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [Let us not be needlessly bitter: certain failures are sometimes fruitful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/let-us-not-be-needlessly-bitter-certain-failures-are-sometimes/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [Ambition is a drug that makes its addicts potential madmen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/ambition-is-a-drug-that-makes-its-addicts-potential-madmen/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [Humanity adores only those who cause it to perish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/humanity-adores-only-those-who-cause-it-to-perish/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [Psychoanalysis is a technique we practice at our cost; psychoanalysis degrades our risks, our dangers, our depths; it strips us of our impurities, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/psychoanalysis-is-a-technique-we-practice-at-our-cost-psychoanalysis/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) [Explore all 272 Emile M. Cioran quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) ## More Despair quotes > [“As ofttimes as it rains on my little spot of earth, you'd think I'd grow accustomed to the gloom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/as-ofttimes-as-it-rains-on-my-little-spot-of-earth-you-d-think-i-d/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [“She searched her mind for a single day when it had felt good to be alive. There must have been one, surely?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-abbott/she-searched-her-mind-for-a-single-day-when-it-had-felt-good-to-be/) [Rachel Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-abbott/) > [“Men circle like bees around honey, buzzing to communicate their sexual despair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-h-krueger/men-circle-like-bees-around-honey-buzzing-to-communicate-their-sexual/) [Carla H Krueger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-h-krueger/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [Your spirit is the part of you that seeks meaning and purpose. It's the part drawn to hope, that will not give in to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-myss/your-spirit-is-the-part-of-you-that-seeks-meaning-and-purpose-it-s/) [Caroline Myss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-myss/) > [My God, whose son, as on this night, took on Him the form of man, and for man vouchsafed to suffer and bleed, controls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/my-god-whose-son-as-on-this-night-took-on-him-the-form-of-man-and-for/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [The modernist writers found despair inspirational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-modernist-writers-found-despair-inspirational/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The skin and shell of things Though fair are not Thy wish nor prayer but got My meer despair of wings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-vaughan/the-skin-and-shell-of-things-though-fair-are-not-thy-wish-nor-prayer/) [Henry Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-vaughan/) > [“A fine setting for a fit of despair,” it occurred to him, “if I were only standing here by accident instead of design.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/a-fine-setting-for-a-fit-of-despair-it-occurred-to-him-if-i-were-only/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Enough for this bow & arrow. It caused me nothing but sorrow. No need for another tomorrow. In your heart, I will never be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louaiq8/enough-for-this-bow-arrow-it-caused-me-nothing-but-sorrow-no-need-for/) [Louaiq8](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louaiq8/) > [True repentance never leads to despair. Its leads home. It leads to grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/true-repentance-never-leads-to-despair-its-leads-home-it-leads-to/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) > [Do not consider despair as a thick and high wall standing on your way; it is just a darkness and you can still walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/do-not-consider-despair-as-a-thick-and-high-wall-standing-on-your-way/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [A speculative despair is unpardonable where it our duty to act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-speculative-despair-is-unpardonable-where-it-our-duty-to-act/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I have noticed that there is no dissatisfaction like that of the rich. Feed a man, clothe him, put him in a good house,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-have-noticed-that-there-is-no-dissatisfaction-like-that-of-the-rich/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) [Browse all 3,181 Despair quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Lucidity's task: to attain a correct despair, an Olympian ferocity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Emile M. 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