Emile M. Cioran Tyrants Quotations

The fanatic is incorruptible: if he kills for an idea, he can just as well get himself killed for one; in either case, tyrant or martyr, he is a monster.

In a republic, that paradise of debility, the politician is a petty tyrant who obeys the laws.

In order to have the stuff of a tyrant, a certain mental derangement is necessary.

Tyrants are always assassinated too late. That is their great excuse.