Quotes by Stefan Zweig

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A creative personality obeys a higher law than the law of mere duty. For the one called to great deeds, to discoveries or heroic deeds that make humanity move forward, for him, the true homeland is not his country, but his deed. He feels responsible only to one court, to that problem which he has to solve, and he will despise state and passing interests rather than his inner commitment, which has been entrusted to him by his special destiny, by his special talent.

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Destiny is the most brilliant poet.

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Passion is capable of many things. It can awaken in man an extraordinary superhuman energy. It is capable, by its relentless pressure, of wringing tyrannical forces from even the most balanced soul.

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The most sublime, the purest idea becomes base and insignificant as soon as a mean individual gets the power to do inhuman things.

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The first real sign of political wisdom is always the ability to abandon an unattainable goal early.

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Oh, the power with her Medusa look! Whoever looked her in the face, can no longer take his eyes off her: he remains fascinated and hostage. Whoever has felt the heady delight of power and order at least once, is no longer able to give it up.

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Life doesn't give us anything for free, and for everything that fate offers us, a price is mysteriously determined.

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The spiritual significance of a heroic deed is never established by its practical utility. Humanity is only enriched by the one who helps it to know itself, who deepens its creative consciousness.

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The genius of man is always in harmony with his destiny.

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A strong desperation always defeats a great force.

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In fighting the dead, the living are always right.

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When a friendship is born between a dog and a cat, it is nothing more than an alliance against the cook.

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Only the totality of the obstacles overcome is the true criterion of a heroic deed and of the man who performed it.

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Every great deed of a particular people is done for all peoples.

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The mighty forces that destroy cities and destroy states remain powerless against one man, if he possesses enough will and fearlessness to remain free, for those who imagined themselves victorious over millions could not subdue a single thing - a free conscience.

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You can rely as little on the man who has reached that state that he is no longer afraid even of ridicule as on a criminal.

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There is nothing more beautiful than a truth that seems unbelievable! The heroic deeds of humanity, precisely because they are superior to the deeds of ordinary people, have something incomprehensible; but precisely that unbelievable thing, which was accomplished, restores humanity's self-confidence.

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No physician knows a better medicine than hope for a weary body and soul.

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Being a hero also means fighting against almighty fate.

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Anyone who radiates coldness cannot expect anything but coldness.

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Until now, I thought that the most evil torment of the heart is love desire and sorrow. But in this hour I guessed that there is another, perhaps crueler torment than longing and longing, namely, being loved against our will and unable to defend ourselves against this encroaching passion. To see that someone close to us is in the fire of their longing, and to stand by them helplessly, because we do not have the strength, ability and power to save them from the flames. He who is unhappily in love can sometimes curb his passion, because he is not only the victim but also the cause of trouble; and if a man in love is unable to control his passion, he suffers at least through his own fault. However, the one who is loved is indefensible and cannot return the love, because the extent and limit of this passion no longer depends on him, but is beyond his power, and all will is powerless if another person wants him.

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Whoever helps even one person fulfills the meaning of his life, then it is really worth it for a person to give himself to others, up to his last strength, even beyond his strength. Then all sacrifices would be justified, and even a lie - which makes others happy - is more important than any truth.

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Once a woman has revealed her affection for a man, a fiery, mysterious, dangerous air vibrates between them. Lovers always feel with terrifying clarity what the beloved person really feels for them, and because love, by its very nature, always wants the limitless, everything that is limited, that is limited, is necessarily repugnant and unbearable for it. The barriers and inhibitions of the other always make him feel the resistance, and from the fact that he does not give himself completely, he rightly feels the hidden opposition.

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In fact, vanity is the strongest driving force behind all our actions, and especially weak characters fall victim to the temptation to do something that outwardly looks like strength, courage, and determination.

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Then even the gentlest retreat is useless, all kinds of polite evasive words are useless, the offer of simple friendship is insulting, once the woman has betrayed her vulnerability, the man's resistance then turns into inexcusable cruelty and even accidentally into guilt if he does not accept love.

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All forms of attachment bind the actual strength of the soul, and (...) the true value of a person comes to the fore only when he is freed from attachment.

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If we started to think about the misery of our land today, then - I can clearly see - we would no longer be able to sleep peacefully, and all smiles would freeze on our lips. However, it is never imagined, invisible suffering that rushes and grinds a person, but only shakes and afflicts what his soul has seen with compassion and suffering eyes.

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Courage is often nothing more than a twisted weakness.

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We don't always have to believe what we want to believe to be true.

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The mood of the soul always depends on strange accidents, and it is often the most insignificant externalities that increase or decrease our courage.

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The Creator has somehow twisted men's emotions so that they always want the opposite of what women give them.

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Only a person who has experienced light and darkness, war and peace, fall and rise, only that person has truly experienced life.

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Contemporaries always know the least about their own age.

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Although every single day bears witness to the fact that there are thousands of people living all over the world who share my faith, but understand, such is the mortal heart, it needs at least one person's close, body-warm, visible, palpable, tangible love.

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Fear is a distorting mirror, its exaggeration magnifies it into horror, draws any random feature into ugliness, and the whipping imagination rushes into crazy and impossible possibilities.

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I was afraid that I would arrive home late: all my life you have that stupid fear, and always having to pay attention to others, to everything... time just flies by, and crow's feet are already in the corners of my eyes.

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Many people wouldn't be in love at all if they didn't hear about love beforehand.

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Great and wholesome work always brings people together.