--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When we cannot be delivered from…" description: "\"When we cannot be delivered from ourselves, we delight in devouring ourselves.\" — Emile M. Cioran" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b33/emile-m-cioran-1211_delight_when-we-cannot-be-delivered-from-ourselv_1515869.jpg" --- # When we cannot be delivered from ourselves, we delight in… ![“When we cannot be delivered from ourselves, we delight in devouring ourselves.” quote by Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b33/emile-m-cioran-1211_delight_when-we-cannot-be-delivered-from-ourselv_1515869.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b33/emile-m-cioran-1211_delight_when-we-cannot-be-delivered-from-ourselv_1515869.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b33/emile-m-cioran-1211_delight_when-we-cannot-be-delivered-from-ourselv_1515869.jpg) > “When we cannot be delivered from ourselves, we delight in devouring ourselves.” [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. When we cannot escape ourselves, we may find perverse pleasure in self‑destruction. **In simple terms:** Self‑destruction can be oddly satisfying. Key Takeaway Beware self‑destructive tendencies. Themes existentialism self‑destruction psychology paradox despair Mood melancholic philosophical dark Type essay reflection When to use this quote - personal crises - addictive self‑harm - self‑sabotage - introspective turmoil Key Concepts philosophical pessimism human condition Questions to Reflect On - Why do we sometimes relish our own downfall? - Can embracing pain lead to insight? A Different Perspective Such self‑indulgence can hinder growth and healing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Delight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight/) [Delight Devouring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight-devouring-5591442/) [Delivered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delivered/) [Delivered Delight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delivered-delight-5591443/) [Devouring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devouring/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) ## Related quotes > [Introspection is a devouring monster. You have to feed it with much material, much experience, many people, many places, many loves, many creations, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/introspection-is-a-devouring-monster-you-have-to-feed-it-with-much/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [It’s only when you’ve lost someone that you realize the nonsense of that phrase “It’s a small world”. It isn’t. It’s a vast, devouring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/it-s-only-when-you-ve-lost-someone-that-you-realize-the-nonsense-of/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [Wolves and women are relational by nature, inquiring, possessed of great endurance and strength. They are deeply intuitive, intensely concerned with their young, their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/wolves-and-women-are-relational-by-nature-inquiring-possessed-of/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [The pure present is an ungraspable advance of the past devouring the future. In truth, all sensation is already memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-pure-present-is-an-ungraspable-advance-of-the-past-devouring-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Fame requires every kind of excess. I mean true fame, a devouring neon, not the sombre renown of waning statesmen or chinless kings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/fame-requires-every-kind-of-excess-i-mean-true-fame-a-devouring-neon/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Growing up, I didn't have any comic books, at all. But my friend had a trunk full of them, so comic books were like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-spader/growing-up-i-didn-t-have-any-comic-books-at-all-but-my-friend-had-a/) [James Spader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-spader/) > [We have unmistakable proof that throughout all past time, there has been a ceaseless devouring of the weak by the strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/we-have-unmistakable-proof-that-throughout-all-past-time-there-has/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Men had better be without education than be educated by their rulers; for their education is but the mere breaking in of the steer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hodgskin/men-had-better-be-without-education-than-be-educated-by-their-rulers/) [Thomas Hodgskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hodgskin/) > [We want something desperately and we try to force the God to give it up before it is ready. We want everything now. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-want-something-desperately-and-we-try-to-force-the-god-to-give-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In the tension between devouring want or simple need it's clear the only lines between the ones we preserve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/as-i-lay-dying/in-the-tension-between-devouring-want-or-simple-need-it-s-clear-the/) [As I Lay Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/as-i-lay-dying/) > [Marriage must perforce fight against the all-devouring monster of habit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/marriage-must-perforce-fight-against-the-all-devouring-monster-of/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [The cruelty of a Fijian god, who, represented as devouring the souls of the dead, may be supposed to inflict torture during the process,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/the-cruelty-of-a-fijian-god-who-represented-as-devouring-the-souls-of/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Do you know, I always imagine that the subway trains are dragons,' Rose said to Bear as they clung to his coat for support…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-doman/do-you-know-i-always-imagine-that-the-subway-trains-are-dragons-rose/) [Regina Doman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-doman/) > [Science is the only truth and it is the great lie. It knows nothing, and people think it knows everything. It is misrepresented. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/science-is-the-only-truth-and-it-is-the-great-lie-it-knows-nothing/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [Precisely because the State has the monopoly of coercion it can be allowed the monopoly only of coercion. Only if the modern State can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hazlitt/precisely-because-the-state-has-the-monopoly-of-coercion-it-can-be/) [Henry Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hazlitt/) ## 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 Delight quotes > [She smiled with all the delight of a kid on Christmas morning and said, "Y'all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die." -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/she-smiled-with-all-the-delight-of-a-kid-on-christmas-morning-and/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Shhh.” He put a finger to her lips. “Hear me out. I cannot deny that I would've liked to have made babies with you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hoyt/shhh-he-put-a-finger-to-her-lips-hear-me-out-i-cannot-deny-that-i/) [Elizabeth Hoyt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hoyt/) > [There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nayler/there-is-a-spirit-which-i-feel-that-delights-to-do-no-evil-nor-to/) [James Nayler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nayler/) > [There was an Old Man of Messina, Whose daughter was named Opsibeena; She wore a small wig, and rode out on a pig, To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-lear/there-was-an-old-man-of-messina-whose-daughter-was-named-opsibeena/) [Edward Lear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-lear/) > [A real flame of love is a subtle thing. It burns as a will-o'-the-wisp, dancing onward to fairy lands of delight. It roars as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dreiser/a-real-flame-of-love-is-a-subtle-thing-it-burns-as-a-will-o-the-wisp/) [Theodore Dreiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dreiser/) > [“The gift of words, the source of enjoyment, the source of delight that comes within and the unfading beauty and energy of words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euginia-herlihy/the-gift-of-words-the-source-of-enjoyment-the-source-of-delight-that/) [Euginia Herlihy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euginia-herlihy/) > [Benefits received are a delight to us as long as we think we can requite them; when that possibility is far exceeded, they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/benefits-received-are-a-delight-to-us-as-long-as-we-think-we-can/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [All the world's bravery that delights our eyes is but thy several liveries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-cowley/all-the-world-s-bravery-that-delights-our-eyes-is-but-thy-several/) [Abraham Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-cowley/) > [It might be lonelier Without the Loneliness - I’m so accustomed to my Fate - Perhaps the Other - Peace - Would interrupt the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/it-might-be-lonelier-without-the-loneliness-i-m-so-accustomed-to-my/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [Design should do the same thing in everyday life that art does when encountered: amaze us, scare us or delight us, but certainly open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-betsky/design-should-do-the-same-thing-in-everyday-life-that-art-does-when/) [Aaron Betsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-betsky/) > [My life shall be free and broad and great, and I will not be the slave to the sense delights which chained my ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/my-life-shall-be-free-and-broad-and-great-and-i-will-not-be-the-slave/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [Every natural power exhilarates; a true talent delights the possessor first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/every-natural-power-exhilarates-a-true-talent-delights-the-possessor/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If we are to define science, ... it does not consist so much in knowing, nor even in "organized knowledge," as it does in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/if-we-are-to-define-science-it-does-not-consist-so-much-in-knowing/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [Significantly, God in Genesis 1 pronounces the rest of creation "good" before humanity is created. The psalmist and the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-clapp/significantly-god-in-genesis-1-pronounces-the-rest-of-creation-good/) [Rodney Clapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-clapp/) > [Being asked to play 'The Doctor' is an amazing privilege. Like the Doctor himself I find myself in a state of utter terror and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-capaldi/being-asked-to-play-the-doctor-is-an-amazing-privilege-like-the/) [Peter Capaldi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-capaldi/) [Browse all 2,212 Delight quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When we cannot be delivered from ourselves, we delight in devouring ourselves.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Emile M. Cioran" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/when-we-cannot-be-delivered-from-ourselves-we-delight-in-devouring/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Delight" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/when-we-cannot-be-delivered-from-ourselves-we-delight-in-devouring/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b33/emile-m-cioran-1211_delight_when-we-cannot-be-delivered-from-ourselv_1515869.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b33/emile-m-cioran-1211_delight_when-we-cannot-be-delivered-from-ourselv_1515869.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b33/emile-m-cioran-1211_delight_when-we-cannot-be-delivered-from-ourselv_1515869.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When we cannot be delivered from ourselves, we delight in devouring ourselves.” — Emile 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": "Emile M. Cioran", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When we cannot be delivered from...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/when-we-cannot-be-delivered-from-ourselves-we-delight-in-devouring/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/when-we-cannot-be-delivered-from-ourselves-we-delight-in-devouring/#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 } } ] } ```