Nihilists believe that life is meaningless and that there are no religious, moral, political, or societal bounds that should be followed. So, does this mean that nihilists cannot be happy? Of course they can be happy. Nihilism itself does not prevent happiness, it just means that a nihilist must seek happiness.
Funny nihilism quotes that will make you laugh or question everything
Nihilism is best done by professionals
- Even nihilists put sugar in their coffee to make it more sweet
- It’s a subject for comedy
- Somethingism is better than nihilism
- “Horror, almost better than any of the other genres, pits the will to live against the will toward nihilism. I don’t know what is more important, actually, to explore than that very dynamic.”
- Karyn Kusama
Existential nihilism quotes
“Nihilism is a natural consequence of a culture (or civilization) ruled and regulated by categories that mask manipulation, mastery, and domination of peoples and nature.”
- Cornel West
- An honest evaluation of what a universe without God would look like.
- The fundamental principle of nihilism is absolute individualism, which is the negation of all obligations imposed upon the individual by society, family life, and religion
- Like alcoholism and drug addiction, nihilism can never be completely cured, and there is always the possibility of relapse
- There is always a chance for conversion, a chance to believe that there is hope for the future and meaning to struggle
Life Quotes about Nihilism
Nietzsche: “Everything in the world displeases me: but, above all, my displeasure in everything displeasing me.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- Shakespeare: “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
- William Shakespeare
- Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.”
- Albert Camus
- What can be broken, should be broken.
- Dmitry Pisarev
- “There is no other world. Nor even this one. What, then, is there? The inner smile provoked in us by the patent nonexistence of both.”
- Emile M. Cioran
- The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike.
- Cormac McCarthy: “The point is there ain’t no point.”
- Corma McCarthy
- Rebecca Solnit: “There’s no one as dangerous as he or she who has nothing to lose.”
- Rebecca Sollnit
- Mikhail Bakunin: “Destroy or be destroyed-there is no middle way! Let us then be the destroyers!”
- Dennis Prager
Nihilism quotes about being a Nihilist
“Certainty is not to be had. But nihilism, if you like, is the beginning of faith, anyway.”
- Sebastian Horsley
- “The nihilist sees avoid. I see everything that fills it.”
- Marty Rubin
- How obtuse these nihilists are! Because I will die someday, does that mean I shouldn’t enjoy my life now?”
- Martijn Budel
- As a nihilist, I recognize that meaning does not exist. If we exterminate ourselves as a species and vaporize our beautiful world, the universe will not cry with us (a condition called the pathetic fallacy). No gods will intervene. We will not be remembered.
Optimistic nihilism
This belief can empower people because it means that we have the power to change our thoughts and experiences.
- For example, if you want to be “happier”, instead of praying for peace, try focusing more on self-care, making decisions that serve your interests, and spending time with those people who build you up.
Nihilism quotes about humanity and meaning
Though nihilism has been criticized for overemphasizing the dark side of human experience, it might be equally true that this overemphasis represents a needed counterbalance to shallow optimism and arrogant confidence in human power.
- “The middle way is a view of life that avoids the extreme of misguided grasping born of believing there is something we can find, or buy, or cling to that will not change. And it avoids the despair and nihilism born from the mistaken belief that nothing matters, that all is meaningless.”
- Sharon Salzberg
- Most artists feel their work is meaningless, but most scientists are skeptics. – “Nihilism brings us down to earth by forcing us to confront our puniness, our failures, and our finitude. It reminds us that we are not gods and thus helps to put us back into our appropriate place.”
- John Marmysz
Nihilism quotes about government, society, and civilization
“In many ways, anti-anti-Trumpism mirrors Donald Trump himself because, at its core, there are no fixed values, no respect for constitutional government, or ideas of personal character – only a free-floating nihilism cloaked in insult, mockery, and bombast.”
- Charlie Sykes
- Nearly half of the American population is eagerly anticipating the end of the world. This dewy-eyed nihilism provides absolutely no incentive to build a sustainable civilization. Many of these people are lunatics, but they are not the lunatic fringe.”
- Sam Harris
- “I think you can get to a point where nihilism if that’s the right word, is overwhelming, and the basic laws that society has set up – either religious or social laws – become meaningless.”
- Bruce Springsteen
- Liberal capitalism is not at all the Good of humanity. Quite the contrary, it is the vehicle of savage, destructive nihilism.
- Alain Badiou
- The modern mind is in complete disarray. It is a fact that we are suffering from nihilism.”
- Albert Camus
- Our own civilization has lost its way, and this makes us even more vulnerable to Islamist nihilism
