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Stefan Zweig

Stefan Zweig Quotes

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Famous Stefan Zweig Quotes

“It is usual for a woman, even though she may ardently desire to give herself to a man, to feign reluctance, to simulate alarm or indignation. She must be brought to consent by urgent pleading, by lies, adjurations, and promises. I know that only professional prostitutes are accustomed to answer such an invitation with a perfectly frank assent -- prostitutes, or simple-minded, immature girls.”

KnowsMenGivingMayLyingDesireGirlWomenSimpleAnswersPromiseUsualFrankConsentAccustomedUrgentInvitationsAlarmsImmatureIndignationPleadingReluctanceSimulate
Book:Selected Stories
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“He who is himself crossed in love is able from time to time to master his passion, for he is not the creature but the creator of his own misery; and if a lover is unable to control his passion, he at least knows that he is himself to blame for his sufferings. But he who is loved without reciprocating that love is lost beyond redemption, for it is not in his power to set a limit to that other's passion, to keep it within bounds, and the strongest will is reduced to impotence in the face of another's desire.”

IfsKnowsLoveAbleFacesDesireSufferingPassionLostLove IsMastersLoversCreaturesLimitsBlameMiseryBoundsCreatorRedemptionStrongestImpotenceLove Is Lost
Author:Stefan Zweig
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“Art knows no happier moment than the opportunity to show the symmetry of an extreme, during that moment of spheric harmony when the dissonance dissolves for the blink of an eye, dissolves into a blissful harmony, when the most extreme opposites, coming together from the greatest alienation, fleetingly touch with lips of the word and of love.”

KnowsArtMomentsShowsEyeTogetherOpportunityOppositesHarmonyLipsExtremesThat MomentAlienationBlinkSymmetryComing TogetherDissonanceBlink Of An Eye
Author:Stefan Zweig
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“He who has been impoverished for a long timewho has long stood before the door of the mighty in darkness and begged for alms,has filled his heart with bitterness so that it resembles a sponge full of gall; he knows about the injustice and folly of all human action and sometimes his lips tremble with rage and a stifled scream.”

KnowsHumansHeartLongHas BeensSometimesActionDarknessDoorsFilledInjusticeLipsRageFollyBitternessScreamSpongesAlmsHuman Actions
Author:Stefan Zweig
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“I am not fooling myself with dreams of immortality, know how relative all literature is, don't have any faith in mankind, derive enjoyment from too few things. Sometimes these crises give birth to something worth while, sometimes they simply plunge one deeper into depression, but, of course, it is all part of the same thing.”

KnowsGivingSometimesDreamCoursesLiteratureKnow HowMankindBirthDespairDepressionCrisisDeeperImmortalityEnjoymentRelativePlunge
Book:Stefan and Friderike Zweig: their correspondence, 1912-1942
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“As nature requires whirlwinds and cyclones to release its excessive force in a violent revolt against its own existence, so the spirit requires a demonic human being from time to time whose excessive strength rebels against the community of thought and the monotony of moralityonly by looking at those beyond its limits does humanity come to know its own utmost limits.”

KnowsHumansDoeSpiritHumanityForceCommunityHuman BeingsExistenceProgressLimitsViolentReleaseRebelRevoltMonotonyDemonicCyclonesExcessive Force
Author:Stefan Zweig
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“As one who knows many things, the humanist loves the world precisely because of its manifold nature and the opposing forces in itdo not frighten him. Nothing is further from him than the desire to resolve such conflictsand this is precisely the mark of the humanist spirit: not to evaluate contrasts as hostility but to seek human unity, that superior unity, for all that appears irreconcilable.”

KnowsWorldHumansSpiritDesireForceMarkUnityToleranceSuperiorsResolveHumanistContrastHostilityEvaluateOpposingManifold
Author:Stefan Zweig
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“There are two kinds of pity. One, the weak and sentimental kind, which is really no more than the heart's impatience to be rid as quickly as possible of the painful emotion aroused by the sight of another's unhappiness, that pity which is not compassion, but only an instinctive desire to fortify one's own soul agains the sufferings of another; and the other, the only one at counts, the unsentimental but creative kind, which knows what it is about and is determined to hold out, in patience and forbearance, to the very limit of its strength and even beyond.”

KnowsHeartKindTwoSoulDesireSufferingEmotionCompassionCreativeLimitsWeakSightPainfulDeterminedPityUnhappinessSentimentalImpatienceForbearance
Author:Stefan Zweig
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“There are two types of compassion. One - is faint-hearted and sentimental. Actually, it is nothing more than impatience of the heart, that is hurrying to get rid of that hard feeling when you see other peoples' sufferings; this is not a compassion, but just an instinct will to defence yourself from misfortunes of others. But there is another compassion - real one, that demands for actions, not sentiments, it knows what it wants, and it is full of determination to do everything, what is in human power and even beyond it.”

KnowsWantLoveHumansHeartTwoRealHardFeelingsDreamActionSufferingCompassionTypeDemandDeterminationInstinctSentimentsMisfortunesSentimentalHeartedDefenceImpatienceHurryingReal OnesHuman PowerMisfortunes Of OthersFaint Hearted
Author:Stefan Zweig
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