Quotes

"A bad-tempered man poisons the air with his presence. Run from it. And from all places where bad-tempered people live. Why should we dwell on death row if we are not condemned."

"The seeker of spiritual truths moves like a miner in a treasure land, working step by step for a grain of gold. Sometimes it takes him days not to find it, but sometimes it crumbles before him, shining, almost of its own accord, in a moment."

"The structure of good drama is like that of a clock: neither one wheel more nor one wheel less. The gear teeth fit well together and the spring is strong."

"Long-haired menace: Women are angel-faced spiders stalking young men."

"You will find that some ethnic groups live a more physical life than we do. Such as some of the Jews, Italians and Gypsies in our circle of contact. Naturally there are exceptions, but most of them soon turn their conversation to the field of breeding, to animal life, because this life is theirs, and therefore their thoughts revolve around it."

"The misconception of our life comes from considering these two concepts as one: human and human body."

"The score is something like a pencil sketch of a painting of great beauty, and the interpreter has to recreate it from the sketch."

"I can never look at a yoked animal without being ashamed of my human race."

"Everyone has to mature through corporeality. The child and the young never feel themselves to be anything other than a body. And some people live their whole lives without ever having a moment of realisation. But as long as a man does not come to spiritual self-knowledge in his own feeling, all reasoning is in vain. It is in vain to open the eyes of a cat when it is two days old: it cannot see. But by the eighth day its eyes open of their own accord, and then it can see even in the dark. There are learned and educated men who say that man's proof of his celestial citizenship is false, and there are simple uneducated men to whom it is unnecessary to show such proof: they know where they belong. The eagle sees the sun; it needs no astronomical proof. A mineworm does not believe such a light if anyone claims it and proves it to him. He who has well-developed ears hears music. He that has deaf ears, he can hear the violin in vain, even if it is Kubelik's. Yet it is not useless to talk about it. Those who dig for gold are always glad to hear the experiences of other prospectors. Those who are already in the right direction will be confirmed by the sign of the pointer tree, if it agrees with their direction. Those already groping at the door don't have to look so hard for the handle. And the father can best speak to his children, for the child, if he does not understand, will take the father's hand with confidence: it is certain that this hand will not lead him astray."

"The book is also a human body. Paper-body. The luminous part of the soul that lived on Earth remains in it. And the tears of its silent speech, its smile, - the beating of its heart."

"How can a Lutheran bishop anoint someone a Catholic priest? How can a German family that has never been naturalized here name a Hungarian a noble?"

"I only want to hate one thing: hate itself."

"The notion of pomposity and humility is tucked away in the darkest place in the storeroom of our imagination. Most people confuse it with the concepts of pride and servility. The concept of Christian humility is far removed from the concept of lackeys. For Christ preached equality and did not want to bend necks below the line of equality, only to the line of the height of the body, whoever holds it above."

"The best occupation is one that connects you to nature. So: farming, forestry, cartography, navigation, fishing, etc. In urban and indoor occupations, the best person is a specialist. Those who can do what no one else can do are out of the competition and get rich quick. In objects, too, what is of greatest value is that which is one, of which there is no more. Cheap objects and cheap people are of no value to society."

"Anything you have that you say is mine, remember to add: borrowed. For all you have received from life you must give back."

"Before going onto the bridge, the elephant stretches its front leg forward and stomps on it. Marriage is the most elusive bridge in human life. And we, when we come to that bridge, don't have as much sense as the elephant."

"Don't even be discouraged by a blowhard's jokes. Among the merchants there are many cunning and clever, yet there are few who can distinguish between life and fortune. To him wealth is life. They see every day that death takes a man out of his wealth, and it is certain that no merchant remains in his wealth, but he lives for his wealth."

"But what beauty is there in doing good to someone who is out to harm us? The sense of difference, that is the beauty."

"Only those who have time to themselves may smoke a pipe; who have plenty pipes, and made of meerschaum; whose tobacco is smuggled. The finest cigar is not worth a pipe of good tobacco. Even the finest cigar has a bitter end. A pipe gives good smoke till the last puff."

"He who is a slave to woman is a slave to Earth. And he who is free from woman is free from his own animality."