In this collection of aphorisms and shortessays, E.M. Cioran sets about the task of peeling off the layers of falserealities with which society masks the truth. For him, real hope lies in thistask, and thus, while he perceives the world darkly, he refuses to give in todespair. He hits upon this ultimate truth by developing his notion of humanhistory and events as "a procession of delusions," striking out atthe so-called "Fallacies of Hope." By examining the relationshipbetween truth and action and between absolutes, unknowables, and frauds, Ciorancomes out, for once, in favor of <em>being.</em>