Daniel Kehlmann Quotes

• “People who have experienced nothing love to tell stories while people who have experienced a great deal suddenly have no stories to tell at all.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “It's precisely the sense that we're different that makes us so banal.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “It was both odd and unjust, a real example of pitiful arbitrariness of existance, that you were born into a particular time & held prisoner there whether you wanted it or not. It gave you an indecent advantage over the past and made you a clown vis-a-vis the future.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Whenever things were frightening, it was a good idea to measure them.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Natürlich, es ist das Ende, und wir sterben. Aber das heißt nicht, dass wir nicht noch lange da sein, andere Menschen finden, spazierengehen, nachts träumen und alles erledigen können, was eine Marionette so tut.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “»Aber weißt du, was besser ist? Noch besser als friedlich sterben?«
  
  »Sag es mir.«
  
  »Nicht sterben, kleine Liz. Das ist viel besser.«”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Inzwischen geht es ihm besser, manche Tage seien schon fieberfrei, auch die Träume, in denen er Baron Humboldt erwürge, zerhacke, erschieße, anzünde, vergifte oder unter Steinen begrabe, würden seltener.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Ich habe diese Welt nicht anders vorgefunden als gehüllt in mein Bewusstsein; wie also kann ich gehen, ohne sie mitzunehmen? Und gesetzt selbst, dass sie alle, Berge, Häuser, Sonne (und ich bezweifle es) durch und für andere Wesen fortbestehen, - es werden andere sein, nicht diese Berge, diese Häuser, diese Sonne.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Wann immer einen die Dinge erschreckten, sei es eine gute Idee, sie zu messen.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “That was the moment when he grasped that nobody wanted to use their minds. People wanted peace. They wanted to eat and sleep and have other people be nice to them. What they didn't want to do was think.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Geschichten in Geschichten in Geschichten. Man weiß nie, wo eine endet und eine andere beginnt! In Wahrheit fließen alle ineinander. Nur in Büchern sind sie säuberlich getrennt.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Wir sind immer in Geschichten”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Den Hunde, sagte Bonpland, habe er nie leiden können.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “A book is a possibility,” he says. “It is always prepared to speak. Even someone who does not understand its language can pass it on to others who can read it very well, so that it may do its wicked work on them. Or he could learn the language, and if there’s no one to teach it to him, he might find a way to teach it to himself. That’s not unheard of either. It can be achieved purely by examining the letters, by counting their frequency, by contemplating their pattern, for the human mind is powerful.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Man hat uns früh eingeredet, dass ein Leben Publikum benötigt.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Ich habe herausgefunden, dass der Mensch bereit ist, Unbill zu erfahren, aber viel Erkenntnis entgeht ihm, weil er den Schmerz fürchtet.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Aber seien wir doch ehrlich, es ist ein seltsamer Beruf. Ein wenig lächerlich für einen erwachsenen Menschen. Sie sitzen daheim und denken sich Geschichten aus, die nie passiert sind.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Wer weit reise, sagte er, erfahre viele Dinge. Ein paar davon über sich selbst.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Insa, cand au trecut de primele suburbii ale Berlinului si Humboldt si-a inchipuit cum Gauss a cercetat corpurile ceresti prin telescopul sau in tot acest timp - corpuri ceresti ale caror orbite pot fi descrise in formule simple -, n-a mai fost in stare sa spuna care dintre ei doi a ramas acasa si care a colindat lumea.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Ti ne postojiš. Misliš da ovo čitaš? Naravno da misliš. Ali ovo niko ne čita. Svet nije onakav kakav se čini. Ne postoje boje, postoje talasne dužine; ne postoje tonovi, postoji samo treperenje vazduha; ne postoji prostor, postoje samo atomi u prostoru; ali i atom je samo reč za energiju bez oblika i mesta postojanja. A šta je to energija? Broj koji u svim promenama ostaje konstanta, apstraktni zbir, koji se stalno održava. Energija nije supstancija, ona je odnos, dakle čista matematika. Što mi češće osmatramo stvarnost, ona je sve praznija, čak i sama praznina postaje irealna. Jer prostor je samo funkcija, samo model našeg duha. A duh koji taj model stvara? Ne zaboravi, u mozgu niko ne živi. Nema vidljive duše koja struji kroz nervne završetke, koja gleda kroz oči, koja čuje kroz uši, koja govori kroz tvoja usta. Oči nisu prozori duše. Postoje samo nervni impulsi, ali njih niko ne čita, niko ih ne broji, niko ne prevodi u nešto drugo, niko ne razmišlja o njima. Traži koliko hoćeš, u toj kući nikoga nema. Svet je u tebi, a ti ne postojiš.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “But why people? I asked. What does he care about people? He’s a bear.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Mnoge umiruje činjenica da sveštenici još uvek postoje, da hodaju zemljom, da služe mise, da se mole i ponašaju kao da čovek ima dušu i kao da postoji nada za ljude. Tako i sam mislim kad vidim sveštenika koga ne poznajem. Ali kada se pogledam u ogledalo, to više ne funkcioniše.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Seltsam sei es und ungerecht, sagte Gauß, so recht ein Beispiel für die erbärmliche Zufälligkeit der Existenz, dass man in einer bestimmten Zeit geboren und ihr verhaftet sei, ob man wolle oder nicht. Es verschaffe einem einen unziemlichen Vorteil vor der Vergangenheit und mache einen zum Clown der Zukunft.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Above us Tyll Ulenspiegel turned, slowly and carelessly—not like someone in danger but like someone looking around with curiosity. He stood with his right foot lengthwise on the rope, his left crosswise, his knees slightly bent and his fists on his hips. And all of us, looking up, suddenly understood what lightness was. We understood what life could be like for someone who really did whatever he wanted, who believed in nothing and obeyed no one; we understood what it would be like to be such a person, and we understood that we would never be such people.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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• “Защото светът се оказва така разочароващ, когато установиш колко е тънка тъканта му, колко грубо е сплетена илюзията, колко профански е зашит откъм гърба. Защото само тайнството и забравата го правеха поносим. Защото без съня, който всекидневно те откъсва от реалността, нищо не може да се издържи. Да не виждаш пътя бе тъжно. Да си буден бе тъжно. Познанието, клети Бартелс, е отчайващо. Защо, Бартелс? Защото времето винаги неумолимо си отива.”

  Daniel Kehlmann

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