"Every time you become less confident in your work - and how often you are tempted by the torturous feeling of fatigue, boredom, aimlessness! the self-accusation that this too is just vanity, the vague desire that it would be better to leave everything, to do only the most necessary, self-sustaining actions, to read and live, to live and pass away without a sign and without a trace! – you should know that this is the most serious temptation that life offers you. In such cases, one must remain strong, like true heroes, when faced with an impossible task. You should know that you have a right to everything rather than running away from the work that fate has assigned you.
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Author
Márai SándorAll Translations
All Translations
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Every time you become less confident in your work - and how often you are tempted by the torturous feeling of fatigue, boredom, aimlessness! the self-accusation that this too is just vanity, the vague desire that it would be better to leave everything, to do only the most necessary, self-sustaining actions, to read and live, to live and pass away without a sign and without a trace! – you should know that this is the most serious temptation that life offers you. In such cases, one must remain strong, like true heroes, when faced with an impossible task. You should know that you have a right to everything rather than running away from the work that fate has assigned you.
""Valahányszor kishitű leszel munkádban – s milyen gyakran megkísért a fáradtság, a csömör, a céltalanság kínzó érzése! az önvád, hogy ez is csak hiúság, a homályos vágy, hogy jobb lenne hagyni mindent, csak a legszükségesebb, önfenntartó műveleteket végezni el, olvasni és élni, jeltelenül és nyomtalanul élni és múlni el! –, tudnod kell, hogy ez a legsúlyosabb kísértés, mellyel az élet megkínál. Ilyenkor erősnek kell maradni, mint az igazi hősök, mikor lehetetlen feladattal állanak szemközt. Tudnod kell, hogy mindenhez inkább van jogod, mint megszökni a munka elől, melyet kijelölt számodra a végzet."