Emil Cioran is a pretty twisted individual, but his writing is amazingly beautiful. In particular, De l'inconvénient d'être né is pretty fantastic, especially in French (haven't read any translated versions, so can't vouch for it).

I was introduced to him by my previous boss. I was going through some rough times, and my boss recommended some of his books, summarising Cioran's thoughts on the matter of suicide as being a crutch to survive.

He saw suicide as an eternal escape hatch. No matter what happened, he still had the comfort (and control) of being able to say "Stop."

I'm not sure I would agree that it is the main message, but it is true that On the Heights of Despair does allude to that way of thinking.

I highly recommend Cioran, to anyone who is interested by philosophy. As with most philosophers you will read about, there will be major disagreements between you and the author, but his works have definitely shaped how I perceived parts of life.

Indeed, I'm a native Romanian — his original works are almost lyrical. They did wonders during my depressive stages, especially “Pe culmile disperarii” (“On the Heights of Despair”) — will try it in English soon.

Is it sad that seeing this quote makes me happy? There is a sinister symmetry between the content and delivery, I wonder how the sentiment of this quote changes in different languages...