Nihilism Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old nihilism quotes, nihilism sayings, and nihilism proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

Moral nihilism comes with a price we can now see. Torbjorn Tannsjo
Those who believe in nothing are very, very jealous and angry at those who believe in something. Dennis Prager
Nihilism is but the other side of conventionalism; its creed consists of negations of the current so-called positive values, to which it remains bound. Hannah Arendt
Nothing exists; even if something exists, nothing can be known about it; and even if something can be known about it, knowledge about it can't be communicated to others. Gorgias
Nihilism has no substance. There is no such thing as nothingness, and zero does not exist. Everything is something. Nothing is nothing. Victor Hugo
Lack of originality, everywhere, all over the world, from time immemorial, has always been considered the foremost quality and the recommendation of the active, efficient and practical man. Fyodor Dostoyevsky
In his heart he was highly delighted with his friend's suggestion, but he thought it a duty to conceal his feeling. He was not a nihilist for nothing! Ivan Turgenev
the problem is not suffering itself or oblivion itself but the depraved meaninglessness of these things, the absolutely inhuman nihilism of suffering. John Green
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
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
The atheism and nihilism of my earlier years now seems shallow, and even a bit cocky. Anne Rice
Nihilism is not an existential quandary but a speculative opportunity. Ray Brassier
The skeptic may deny your doctrine or attack your church but he cannot honestly ignore the fact that your life has been changed. Charles R. Swindoll
Everything is nothing, including the consciousness of nothing. E. M. Cioran
The skeptic has no illusions about life, nor a vain belief in the promise of immortality. Since this life here and now is all we can know, our most reasonable option is to live it fully. Paul Kurtz
It is complete nihilism to propose laying down arms in a world where atom bombs are around. It is very simple: there is no way of achieving peace other than with weapons. Karl Popper
Nihilism is not only despair and negation, but above all the desire to despair and to negate. Albert Camus
Everything in the world displeases me: but, above all, my displeasure in everything displeases me. Friedrich Nietzsche
Nihilists embrace life's existence by the acceptance of nothingness. Martijn Budel
You don't realize all the things you have in this world, much more than you need, and you do much less than you can. Roberto Canessa
There must be somebody there, because somebody must have said Nobody. A.A. Milne
Tragedy is a vision of nihilism, a heroic or ennobling vision of nihilism. Susan Sontag
I think there is an element of nihilism about, but I don't think most artists feel their work is meaningless. Leonard Baskin
Meaning is malleable: take it out, you get nihilism and despair. Put it in, you get sacredness and something most special. Dean Ornish
A nihilist is not one who believes in nothing , but one who does not believe in what exists. Albert Camus
Certainty is not to be had. But as we learn this we become not more moral but more resigned. We become nihilists. Ryan Gosling
If all men lead mechanical, unpoetical lives, this is the real nihilism, the real undoing of the world. Reginald Horace Blyth
That is the most extreme form of nihilism: nothingness (the "meaningless") eternally! Friedrich Nietzsche
Nihilism, there's really nothing to it. Dean Cavanagh
Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense. Carl Sagan