There were of course exceptions, but on the whole the “intellectuals” among us withstood the hardships of the journey resignedly and patiently. They proved to be tougher, quieter, more uncomplaining than many men from other walks of life who were physically stronger and physically better trained.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

Lion Feuchtwanger Quotes

What is a historian, anyway? It is someone who uses facts to record the development of humanity.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

From depicting the past, so goes the suspicion, it is a short step to glorifying the past.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

There’s only a step from the sublime to the ridiculous, but there’s no road leading from the ridiculous to the sublime.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

After closely examining my conscience, I venture to state that in my historical novels I intended the content to be just as modern and up-to-date as in the contemporary ones.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

I should add that it is open to debate whether what we call the writing of history these days is truly scientific.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

It is only the strong who are strengthened by suffering; the weak are made weaker.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

Strong

Both the historian and the novelist view history as the struggle of a tiny minority, able and determined to make judgments, which is up against a vast and densely packed majority of the blind, who are led by their instincts and unable to think for themselves.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

An author who sets about to depict events of the past that have run their course is suspected of wishing to avoid the problems of the present day, of being, in other words, a reactionary.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

I have always made an effort to render every detail of my reality with the greatest accuracy; but I have never paid attention to whether my presentation of historical facts was an exact one.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

Asking the author of historical novels to teach you about history is like expecting the composer of a melody to provide answers about radio transmission.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

Ever since my youth it has disturbed me that of the literary works that survived their own epoch, so many dealt with historical rather than contemporary subjects.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

The years that had passed had displayed vividly before our eyes the fickleness of human attitudes.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

Had I not been thinking always of the ludicrous aspects of my own plight, or of the plight of others, I could not have survived that depressing, degrading experience without spiritual harm.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

It was not living, it was vegetation. We longed for death.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

I am always thinking of that remark of Theodor Lessing, which I quoted earlier in this book, that history is “the art of giving meaning to the meaningless.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

But one should not trust first impulses. Instinct is not always a safe counsellor by any means.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

However small we made ourselves, we took space and air from our neighbours. We were a torment to one another.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

There were of course exceptions, but on the whole the “intellectuals” among us withstood the hardships of the journey resignedly and patiently. They proved to be tougher, quieter, more uncomplaining than many men from other walks of life who were physically stronger and physically better trained.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

It has always been a blessed experience with me after an illness to feel that I was recovering.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

I am a slow worker, but I could have written at least two books more in the time that I have been obliged to spend waiting around public offices and in the back yards of recruiting stations – waiting unnecessarily for unnecessary things.

— Lion Feuchtwanger

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