Thomas Bernhard
Thomas Bernhard
Thomas Bernhardwas an Austrian novelist, playwright and poet. Bernhard, whose body of work has been called "the most significant literary achievement since World War II," is widely considered to be one of the most important German-speaking authors of the postwar era...
NationalityAustrian
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth9 February 1931
CountryAustria
journey worry goes-on
... Whatever condition we are in, we must always do what we want to do, and if we want to go on a journey, then we must do so and not worry about our condition, even if it's the worst possible condition, because, if it is, we're finished anyway, whether we go on the journey or not, and it's better to die having made the journey we're been longing for than to be stifled by our longing.
suicide way admiration
All my life I have had the utmost admiration for suicides. I have always considered them superior to me in every way.
anime
After all, there is nothing but failure.
years names woods
What can you do. You get a name, you're called 'Thomas Bernhard', and it stays that way for the rest of your life. And if at some point you go for a walk in the woods, and someone takes a photo of you, then for the next eighty years you're always walking in the woods. There's nothing you can do about it.
views practice people
In theory we understand people, but in practice we can't put up with them, I thought, deal with them for the most part reluctantly and always treat them from our point of view. We should observe and treat people not from our point of view but from all angles, I thought, associate with them in such a way that we can say we associate with them so to speak in a completely unbiased way, which however isn't possible, since we actually are always biased against everybody.
arrogance use world
Arrogance is an utterly appropriate weapon to use against a hostile world, a world in which arrogance is feared and respected, even if, like mine, it's only feigned.
writing thinking order
We must allow ourselves to think, we must dare to think, even though we fail. It is in the nature of things that we always fail, because we suddenly find it impossible to order our thoughts, because the process of thinking requires us to consider every thought there is, every possible thought. Fundamentally we have always failed, like all the others, whoever they were, even the greatest minds. At some point, they suddenly failed and their system collapsed, as is proved by their writings, which we admire because they venture farthest into failure. To think is to fail, I thought.
night rivers inspiring-love
Women were like rivers, their banks were unreachable, the night often rang with the cries of the drowned.
misunderstood doe language
Everyone, he went on, speaks a language he does not understand, but which now and then is understood by others. That is enough to permit one to exist and at least to be misunderstood.
study sickness poetic
The study of sickness is the most poetic of the sciences.
disaster applause
Nothing but disaster follows from applause.
soul poverty criminals
A criminal is undoubtedly a poor soul, who is punished for his poverty.
courage adversity faces
We only really face up to ourselves when we are afraid.
errors childhood inmates
I had to spend my entire childhood in the Altensam dungeon like an inmate doing time for no comprehensible reason, for a crime he can't remember committing, a judicial error probably.