Of course I’m ignorant, that remains true at all events and is extremely distressing for me, but it does have the advantage that the ignorant man dares more, so I shall gladly put up with ignorance and its undoubtedly dire consequences for a while, as long as my strength lasts.
Other opportunities arise from time to time that almost don’t accord with the overall situation, opportunities whereby a word, a glance, a sigh of trust may achieve more than a lifetime of exhausting endeavour.
I’m not in the right place – alas, I cannot rid myself of the feeling that I’m not in the right place.
You once said that you would like to sit beside me while I write. Listen, in that case I could not write at all.
You spend too much time on ephemeras. The majority of modern books are merely wavering reflections of the present. They disappear very quickly. You should read more old books. The classics. Goethe. What is merely new is the most transitory of all things. It is beautiful today, and tomorrow merely ludicrous.
Devilish in my innocence.
I am so miserable, there are so many questions, I can see no way out and am so wretched and feeble that I could lie forever on the sofa and keep opening and closing my eyes without knowing the difference.
Everything you love is very likely to be lost, but in the end, love will return in a different way.
A man might find for a moment that he was unable to work, but that’s exactly the right time to remember his past accomplishments and to consider that later on, when the obstacles has been removed, he’s bound to work all the harder and more efficiently.
He looked sadly down at the street, as though it were his own bottomless sadness.
If you come to me you will be leaping into the abyss.
When you stand in front of me and look at me, what do you know of the griefs that are in me and what do I know of yours?
What is love? After all, it is quite simple. Love is everything which enhances, widens, and enriches our life. In its heights and in its depths. Love has as few problems as a motor-car. The only problems are the driver, the passengers, and the road.
His growing lack of concern for the others hardly surprised him, whereas previously he had prided himself on being considerate.
Don’t concern yourself about anybody. Just do what you think is right.
Was he an animal if music could captivate him so?
Agreement is the best weapon of defense – and the matter would be buried.
Today one may pluck out one’s very heart and not find it.
Logic is of course unshakeable, but it cannot hold out against a man who wants to live.
In the struggle between yourself and the world, hold the world’s coat.