The term 'asceticism' is also susceptible to being misunderstood by those who view Buddhism from the outside.

Evola reminds his readers that the original meaning of the term asceticism is "practical exercise," or 'discipline' — one could even say 'learning.' It certainly does not mean, as some are inclined to think, a willingness to mortify the body that derives from the idea of penance, and even leads to the practice of self-flagellation, since it is believed that one must suffer in order to expiate one's sins.

Asceticism is rather a school of the will, a pure heroism (that is, it is disinterested) that Evola compares to the efforts of a mountain climber.

To the layman, mountain climbing may be a pointless effort, but to the climber it is a challenge in which the test of courage, perseverance, and heroism is its only purpose. In this we recognize an attitude that Brahmanism knew under certain forms of yoga and Tantrism.

"Not long before the Russian occupation of the city, a bombing raid caused an injury to my spinal cord. The injury, which appeared lethal at first, caused the partial paralysis of my lower limbs.

I thus found myself confined to hospital. Such an accident, no doubt, was not unrelated to a rule I had long chosen to follow: not to avoid, but, on the contrary, to seek dangers as a tacit way of putting fate to the test. For this very reason, in the past, I had pursued mountain climbing at dangerous altitudes. I remained faithful to this very principle during the war, when a world was crumbling and the future was shrouded in uncertainty. The accident I fell victim to, however, lent itself to no obvious explanation. Not much changed in my life following the accident, as my handicap was merely physical: aside from the practical disadvantages, and the limitations it entailed from the point of view of my profane existence, the handicap hardly bothered me, for my spiritual and intellectual work remained unaffected by the accident. In my heart, I have always thoroughly subscribed to the traditional doctrine I often quoted in my writing, which teaches that we have wished all relevant events in our life before our birth. I could not, therefore, avoid applying such a doctrine to the aforementioned event. To remember why I had wished such an accident upon myself, and to understand its most profound significance, is what truly mattered in my eyes — more than ‘recovery’ itself."

— Julius Evola, The Path of Cinnabar

Study of Dante holding the hand of Love (for the painting ‘Dante’s Dream at the Time of the Death of Beatrice’) by Dante Gabriel Rossetti,
1855-1856.

“Help, if it comes, frequently turns up from an unexpected quarter: from the weak. This happened to me when I met and married Teresa. My defeatism reached a climax: I went the whole distance, finally turning my back on the struggle for power. It all seemed meaningless and futile, a wasted effort, time lost. I wanted to wipe it from my memory.

I came to recognize that one single human being, comprehended in his depth, who gives generously from the treasures of his heart, bestows on us more riches than Caesar or Alexander could ever conquer. Here is our kingdom, the best of monarchies, the best republic. Here is our garden, our happiness.”

—Ernst Jünger, The Glass Bees.

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more.”
— Lord Byron

“If the industrious man, through taking action,
Does not succeed, he should not be blamed for that,
He still perceives the truth.”
—The Sauptikaparvan of the Mahabharata (2,16).

https://www.newdawnmagazine.com/articles/secret-wisdom/mercury-rising-the-life-writings-of-julius-evola

“Once I asked the muse, and she
Replied:
In the end you’ll find it.
Those born to die can’t grasp it.
About the highest mysteries, I’m speechless.
One’s true native land, like the laurel,
Is forbidden fruit, the last thing
We all taste.”
—Hölderlin, Once I asked the muse.

“When all institutions become disreputable, and when prayers are heard even in churches not for the persecuted but for the persecutors, moral responsibility passes into the hands of individuals, or, better said, the unbroken individuals.”— Ernst Jünger.

Eren Yeşilyurt interviews the Italian scholar Alessandra Colla about the sociological views of Jalal al-e Ahmad, the great Iranian writer who was influenced by Ernst Jünger and whose ideas about the return of Iranians to their own identity, free of Western influence, was to help pave the way for the revolution of 1978-79.
https://erenyesilyurt.com/index.php/2025/08/29/alessandra-colla-between-junger-and-ahmad-there-is-more-of-a-critical-convergence-than-an-intellectual-alliance-based-on-a-critique-of-modernity/

 "You must realize that I am far from feeling beaten…it seems to me that… a man ought to be deeply convinced that the source of his own moral force is in himself — his very energy and will, the iron coherence of ends and means — that he never falls into those vulgar, banal moods, pessimism and optimism. My own state of mind synthesises these two feelings and transcends them: my mind is pessimistic, but my will is optimistic. Whatever the situation, I imagine the worst that could happen in order to summon up all my reserves and will power to overcome every obstacle."
—Antonio Gramsci.

"I drink to you, the bourgeoisie, and to the wish that your comfortable life be buried in an ocean of shit."

—Gabriele D'Annunzio.