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Hate the world Quote by Slavoj Žižek

“What would be my, how should I call it, spontaneous attitude towards the universe? It's a very dark one. The first thesis would have been a kind of total vanity: there is nothing, basically. I mean it quite literally, like… ultimately there are just some fragments, some vanishing things. If you…” quote by Slavoj Žižek
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““What would be my, how should I call it, spontaneous attitude towards the universe? It's a very dark one. The first thesis would have been a kind of total vanity: there is nothing, basically. I mean it quite literally, like… ultimately there are just some fragments, some vanishing things. If you look at the universe, it's one big void. But then how do things emerge? Here, I feel a kind of spontaneous affinity with quantum physics, where, you know, the idea there is that universe is a void, but a kind of a positively charged void. And then particular things appear when the balance of the void is disturbed. And I like this idea of spontaneous very much that the fact that it's just not nothing… Things are out there. It means something went terribly wrong… that what we call creation is a kind of a cosmic imbalance, cosmic catastrophe, that things exist by mistake. And I'm even ready to go to the end and to claim that the only way to counteract it is to assume the mistake and go to the end. And we have a name for this. It's called love. Isn't love precisely this kind of a cosmic imbalance? I was always disgusted with this notion of "I love the world" universal love. I don't like the world. I don't know how… Basically, I'm somewhere in between “I hate the world” or “I'm indifferent towards it.” But the whole of reality, it's just it. It's stupid. It is out there. I don't care about it. Love, for me, is an extremely violent act. Love is not “I love you all.” Love means I pick out something, and it's, again, this structure of imbalance. Even if this something is just a small detail… a fragile individual person… I say “I love you more than anything else.” In this quite formal sense, love is evil.””

Slavoj Žižek

About This Quote

Source Interview: The Future of Philosophy, 2022

Love is framed as a disruptive, violent force that creates imbalance, contrasting with idealized universal love, suggesting existence emerges from cosmic error.

In simple terms: Love is a violent, imbalanced act that creates meaning.

Key Takeaway

Accept love’s chaotic nature and its role in shaping reality.

Themes

philosophy existentialism love cosmology

Mood

provocative introspective

Type

philosophical critical

When to use this quote

  • personal relationships
  • artistic creation
  • social activism
  • psychological healing

Key Concepts

ontological imbalance creative destruction subjectivity

Questions to Reflect On

  • Can love be both violent and nurturing?
  • What does “cosmic imbalance” mean for everyday life?
A Different Perspective

The view may overlook love’s capacity for cooperation and empathy.

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