“The conscience, madame, is a bad business. I, and other people like me, work hard all our lives to swindle our consciences into feeling pleased and satisfied. We are feckless creatures, and aside from a few good hours we go around weighted down, sick and sore with the knowledge of our own futility. We hate [...]
Archive for the ‘Literature’ Category
“Tristan” by Thomas Mann
Posted in Literature on December 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
“Born Twice” by Giuseppe Pontiggia
Posted in Literature on November 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
“Fearful people see danger in everything; they practically invent dangers in order to intensify the pleasure of avoiding them. All in vain too, because the fear is born on the inside.”
“Excess reveals lies; truth doesn’t want superlatives.”
“Only prayer can interrupt the solitude of dying.”
“To challenge one’s limits as an end to itself derives from [...]
“Death in Venice” by Thomas Mann
Posted in Literature on May 24, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
“People do not know why they raise a work of art to fame. Far from being connoisseurs, they believe that they see in it hundreds of virtues which justify so much interest; but the true reason for their applause is an unconscious sympathy. Aschenbach had once stated quite plainly in some inconspicuous place [...]
“First Love” by Turgenev
Posted in Literature on May 22, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
“My father had a curious influence on me, and our relations were curious too. He took scarcely any interest in my education, but never hurt my feelings; he respected my freedom; he displayed – if one can put it that way – a certain courtesy towards me; only he never let me come at all [...]
