Who said “No society has been able to abolish human sadness, no political system can deliver us…”?

Verified

Eugene Ionesco. A published source records them saying or writing it.

Source"A Reply to Kenneth Tynan: The Playwright's Role" in The Observer (29 June 1958)

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“No society has been able to abolish human sadness, no political system can deliver us from the pain of living, from our fear of death, our thirst for the absolute. It is the human condition that directs the social condition, not vice versa.”
— Eugene Ionesco
Verified"A Reply to Kenneth Tynan: The Playwright's Role" in The Observer (29 June 1958) · evidenceSociety

Cite this quote

For academic work, cite the original where you can: "A Reply to Kenneth Tynan: The Playwright's Role" in The Observer (29 June 1958).

APA

Ionesco, E. (n.d.). No society has been able to abolish human sadness, no political system can deliver us from the pain of living, from our fear of death, our thirst for the absolute. It is the human condition that directs the social condition, not vice versa. [Quotation]. Famous Quotations Network. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/38236-no-society-has-been-able-to-abolish-human/

MLA

Ionesco, Eugene. “No society has been able to abolish human sadness, no political system can deliver us from the pain of living, from our fear of death, our thirst for the absolute. It is the human condition that directs the social condition, not vice versa.” Famous Quotations Network, https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/38236-no-society-has-been-able-to-abolish-human/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Ionesco, Eugene. “No society has been able to abolish human sadness, no political system can deliver us from the pain of living, from our fear of death, our thirst for the absolute. It is the human condition that directs the social condition, not vice versa.” Famous Quotations Network. Accessed October 24, 2026. https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/38236-no-society-has-been-able-to-abolish-human/.

Related quotes

More quotes by Eugene Ionesco

“Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together.”
Dreams
“Banality is a symptom of non-communication. Men hide behind their clichTs.”
Banality
“Beauty is a precious trace that eternity causes to appear to us and that it takes away from us. A manifestation of eternity, and a sign of death as well.”
Beauty
“There is no religion in which everyday life is not considered a prison; there is no philosophy or ideology that does not think that we live in alienation.”
Alienation
“There is nothing truer than myth: history, in its attempt to ''realize'' myth, distorts it, stops halfway; when history claims to have ''succeeded,'' this is nothing but humbug and mystification. Everything we dream is ''realizable.'' Reality does not have to be: it is simply what it is.”
Myth
All 13 Eugene Ionesco quotes →