"The weight of everything increases almost to the point of unreality when one is a prisoner and receives only a few letters. An unintentional sentence, which if written under other circumstances would have meant nothing, can be a lightning bolt and destroy a man's life, just as another sentence can give warmth for weeks, although it was written just as unintentionally as the first. We can dwell for months on things that the writer of the letter forgot when he sealed the envelope.
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Author
Erich Maria RemarqueAll Translations
All Translations
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The weight of everything increases almost to the point of unreality when one is a prisoner and receives only a few letters. An unintentional sentence, which if written under other circumstances would have meant nothing, can be a lightning bolt and destroy a man's life, just as another sentence can give warmth for weeks, although it was written just as unintentionally as the first. We can dwell for months on things that the writer of the letter forgot when he sealed the envelope.
""Szinte az irrealitásig megnő mindennek a súlya, ha az ember fogoly, és csak néhány levelet kap. Egy szándéktalan mondat, amely ha más körülmények között íródik, semmit sem jelentett volna, villámmá lehet, és tönkreteszi az ember életét, mint ahogy egy másik mondat hetekre melegséget adhat, noha éppoly szándéktalanul íródott, mint az első. Hónapokig tudunk tépelődni olyan dolgokon, amelyeket a levél írója már a boríték leragasztásakor elfelejtett."