Friedrich Nietzsche
) The wreckage of stars — I built a world from this wreckage. — Friedrich Nietzsche, Dithyrambs of Dionysus (Anvil Press Poetry, June 1, 2004) Originally 1888.
Category: German Culture
Franz Kafka
You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet. ― Franz Kafka
Herman Hesse
I live in my dreams—that’s what you sense. Other people live in dreams, but not in their own. That’s the difference. — Herman Hesse, Demian ( Suhrkamp, January 1, 1974) Originally published Suhrkamp (January 1, 1974.
Franz Kafka
I have this vision: That I would finally come and find you. Scattered pieces of distance would not stand in my way. Not needing words; the barest of glimpses would suffice for you and me. – Franz Kafka, Letters To Milena (Schocken; Rev Upd edition April 7, 1990)
Rainer Maria Rilke
See how in their veins all becomes spirit:into each other they mature and grow.Like axles, their forms tremblingly orbit,round which it whirls, bewitching and aglow.Thirsters, and they receive drink,watchers, and see: they receive sight.Let them into one another sinkso as to endure each other outright. –– Rainer Maria Rilke, “The Lovers”, trans. John J. L.… Continue reading Rainer Maria Rilke
Lou Andreas-Salomé
If you have no more happiness to give: Give me your pain. ― Lou Andreas-Salomé
Rainer Maria Rilke
Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love. — Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet. Sidgwick and Jackson (January 1, 1945)
Rainer Maria Rilke
I, 45 You come and go. The doors swing closedever more gently, almost without a shudder.Of all those who move through the quiet houses,you are the quietest. We become so accustomed to you,we no longer look upwhen your shadow falls over the book we are readingand makes it glow. For all thingssing you: at timeswe… Continue reading Rainer Maria Rilke
Friedrich Hölderlin
I love the earth, which mourns with me. — Friedrich Hölderlin, from “To the Sun God,” Friedrich Hölderlin: Selected Poems, trans. David Constantine (Bloodaxe Books, 1990)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
There is no past we can bring back by longing for it. There is only an eternal now that builds and creates out of the past something new and better. ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The Vale of Soul-Making 