Persons [ ] Rules / Language / Expectations | Kurt Tucholsky, 1890-1935

“Those who hate most fervently must have once loved deeply; those who want to deny
the world must have once embraced what they now set on fire.”

“The world isn’t purposeful. It isn’t ruled by reason. The world wants to play. Fashion
queens have always aroused more interest than future generations and their fate.”

“A country is not only what it does but what it tolerates.”

“Nothing is more difficult and nothing requires more character than to find oneself
in open opposition to ones time (and those one loves) and to say loudly: No!”

“Language is a weapon, keep it honed!”

“How wonderful it is, to be silent with someone.”

“That story always seemed very symbolic to me…Yes, but I forget what it symbolised.”

“The advantage of wisdom is that you always can play dumb.
The opposite is more difficult.”

“You should always pay attention to quality. A coffin, for instance, should last a lifetime.”

“One man’s death: that is a catastrophe. A hundred thousand dead: that is a statistic.”

“Each economy relies on the credit system, that is, on the erroneous assumption
that the other will pay back money pumped.”

“Germany is an anatomical oddity: it writes with its left hand and acts with its right.”

“On account of bad weather, German revolution took place in music”

“Revolution! The people howls and cries, Freedom, thats what were needing!
Weve needed it for centuries, our arteries are bleeding. The stage is shaking,
the audience rock. The whole thing is over by nine oclock.”

“Expect nothing. Today: that is your life.”

Kurt Tucholsky, 1890-1935