More photos of Oakland- here in West Oakland, on MacArthur, between Telegraph Ave. and San Pablo Ave. Photo by Mic Gendreau
Borges: I believe it was Ludwig Wittgenstein who said that "of what one cannot speak, the best is to be silent". The conversations which occupied our attention were too impersonal, extremely abstract, never leaving the perimeter of the metaphysical. For instance, now I remember that Cioran's favourite themes were: God, the meaning of History, the decadence of civilizations, loathing and tedium... but the theme which obsessed him the most was suicide. Cioran could spend a whole afternoon talking, like one who is possessed, about voluntary death and it was as if he was speaking about the nuances of our day-to-day. He knew the theme of self-sacrifice better than anyone. I imagine he must have read all books which deal with death and its corollaries. I have always admired Cioran's raw lucidity; his splendid pessimism has helped me live and endure not a few hours of this century.
