adultery

authority

chess

fear

gratitude

guilt

heart

history

humanism

Immanuel Kant

life

malice

memory

pacificism

pain

regret

shame

soul

youth

nationality

Austrian

occupation / innovator as

journalist

novelist

playwright

biographer

cause of death

suicide

British

poet

historian

religion

Judaism

translator

literary critic

is a double treason, for it is not just that women give themselves, but that a woman is prone, when she does so, to justify herself to herself by uncovering her husband's nakedness, exposing it to the inquisitive and scornful gaze of a stranger.

Adultery is in most cases a theft in the dark. At such moments almost every woman betrays her husband's innermost secrets; becomes a Delilah who discloses to a stranger, discloses to her lover, the mysteries of her husband's strength or weakness. What seems to me treason is, not that women give themselves, but that a woman is prone, when she does so, to justify herself to herself by uncovering her husband's nakedness, exposing it to the inquisitive and scornful gaze of a stranger.

is more lasting in its being and presence than all books and achievements.

As proved by evidence, [chess is] more lasting in its being and presence than all books and achievements; the only game that belongs to all people and all ages; of which none knows the divinity that bestowed it on the world, to slay boredom, to sharpen the senses, to exhilarate the spirit.

is a distorting mirror in which anything can appear as a caricature of itself, stretched to terrible proportions.

Fear is a distorting mirror in which anything can appear as a caricature of itself, stretched to terrible proportions; once inflamed, the imagination pursues the craziest and most unlikely possibilities. What is most absurd suddenly seems the most probable.

is a thing people find difficult to express. They are overwhelmed by silence; are shamefaced; and, sometimes, actually try to hide their feelings.

Gratitude is a rare frame of mind; and those who are grateful can seldom find a way to express what they feel. They are overwhelmed by silence; are shamefaced; and, sometimes, actually try to hide their feelings.

 fills us with rejoicing, for it so rarely finds frank expression; delicacy of feeling warms our hearts.

Gratitude fills us with rejoicing, for it so rarely finds frank expression; delicacy of feeling warms our hearts.

is never forgotten so long as the conscience still knows of it.

No guilt is forgotten so long as the conscience still knows of it.

is able to bury deep and well what is urgently desires to forget.

The heart is able to bury deep and well what is urgently desires to forget.

is not just. It fixes itself on the victorious and leaves the vanquished in the shadows.

History has no time to be just. . . She keeps her eyes fixed on the victorious, and leaves the vanquished in the shadows. Stefan Zweig

is fundamentally flawed in that it desired to educate the 'lowly' common people from its lofty stance instead of trying to understand them and to learn from them.

The organic fundamental error of humanism was that it desired to educate the common people (on whom it looked down) from its lofty stance instead of trying to understand them and to learn from them.

is a man who lived with knowledge as with his lawfully wedded wife, slept with it in the same intellectual bed for forty years and begot an entire German race of philosophical systems.

Immanuel Kant lived with knowledge as with his lawfully wedded wife, slept with it in the same intellectual bed for forty years and begot an entire German race of philosophical systems.

is futile unless it be directed towards a definite goal.

Life is futile unless it be directed towards a definite goal.

is so corrupt that you remember only what you want to; if you want to forget about something, slowly but surely you do.

Memory is so corrupt that you remember only what you want to; if you want to forget about something, slowly but surely you do.

is spoken of most copiously by those who are busy completing the mobilization process in their preparations for war.

When they are preparing for war, those who rule by force speak most copiously about peace until they have completed the mobilization process.

is a coward. He flees when faced by the irresistible power of the will-to-live, which is more strongly rooted in the flesh than the intensest passion is rooted in the spirit.

Pain is a coward. He flees when faced by the irresistible power of the will-to-live, which is more strongly rooted in the flesh than the intensest passion is rooted in the spirit.

 does not bring back a lost moment and a thousand years will not recover something lost in a single hour.

In history as in human life, regret does not bring back a lost moment and a thousand years will not recover something lost in a single hour.

is a thing whereby, once it touches your being at any point, even the most distant nerve is implicated and any fleeting encounter or random thought can rake up the anguish and add to it.

Once shame touches your being at any point, even the most distant nerve is implicated, whether you know it or not; any fleeting encounter or random thought will rake up the anguish and add to it.

is made of stuff so mysteriously elastic that a single event can make it big enough to contain the infinite.

The soul is made of stuff so mysteriously elastic that a single event can make it big enough to contain the infinite.

is always right. Those who follow the counsels of youth are wise.

Youth is always right. Those who follow the counsels of youth are wise.

Stefan ZweigThinkers

Stefan Zweig