Alfred Döblin > Quotes

“I read like the flame reads the wood.”
― Alfred Döblin

“He swore to all the world and to himself that he would remain decent. And as long as he had money, he remained decent. But then he ran out of money, which was a moment he had been waiting for, to show them all what he was made of.”
― Alfred Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz

“So, go on rising, sun, you don't frighten us. We don't care about your many miles, your diameter, your volume. Warm sun, just rise, bright light, arise. You are not big, you are not small, you are happiness.”
― Alfred Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz

“I have seen apes only at the fair, they must perform tricks, are chained up, a bitter fate, no human has one so hard”
― Alfred Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz

“So. Jetzt läßt das Zucken nach. Jetzt liegst du still. Wir sind am Ende von Physiologie und Theologie, die Physik beginnt.”
― Alfred Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz

“Drink, little brother, drink, leave your worries at home, feel no trouble, feel no pain, life is a jolly refrain, feel no trouble and feel no pain, life is a jolly refrain.”
― Alfred Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz

“The boy, Max Rüst, will later on become a tinker, father of seven more Rüsts, he will go to work for the firm of Hallis & Co., Plumbing and Roofing, in Grünau. At the age of 52 he will win a quarter of a prize in the Prussian Class Lottery, then he will retire from business and die during an adjustment suit which he has started against the firm of Hallis & Co., at the age of 55. His obituary will read as follows: On September, suddenly, from heart-disease, my beloved husband, our dear father, son, brother, brother-in-law, and uncle, Paul Rüst, in his 55th year. This announcement is made with deep grief on behalf of his sorrowing family by Marie Rüst. The notice of thanks after the funeral will read as follows: Acknowledgment. Being unable to acknowledge individually all tokens of sympathy in our bereavement, we hereby express our profound gratitude to all relatives, friends, as well as to the tenants of No. 4 Kleiststrasse and to all our acquaintances. Especially do we thank Herr Deinen for his kind words of sympathy. At present his Max Rüst is 14 years old, has just finished public school, is supposed to call by on his way there at the clinic for the defective in speech, the hard of hearing, the weak-visioned, the weak-minded, the in-corrigible, he has been there at frequent intervals, because he stutters, but he is getting better now.”
― Alfred Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz

“What are you afraid of, mister, it won’t be so bad. You won’t die. Berlin’s a big place. Where thousands live, there’s room for one more.”
― Alfred Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz

“Reality is very stupid sometimes, and we ought to help it out a little.”
― Alfred Döblin, Tales of a Long Night: A Novel

“Skurken är naturligtvis mer syndig, men dessa hedervärda utan hederskänsla är, om ni så vill, värda ett större förakt.”
― Alfred Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz

“No one should let himself fall slave to his own opinion.”
― Alfred Döblin, Tales of a Long Night: A Novel

“All your decent work is slavery, didn’t you say so yourself, that’s what decent work is. Yep, and that’s what I found out.”
― Alfred Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz

“Caviar is formed from gray-green boulders that have been eroded by the weather and exposed to frequent rainstorms. This occurs in the mountains. When the stone grows soft, the individual particles, happy to be able to move at last, set out on the double and swim down the torrential streams to the valley.
There a joyful village population awaits them, having prepared for the event by erecting walls and defenses against which the caviar will be dammed (not: damned). Anyone who wants to can safely skim it from there and spread it on a slice of bread. The stony taste goes away if you chew long enough.
The caviar for sale in stores is excreted from fish and cannot in any way be compared with the original caviar, described above.”
― Alfred Doblin

“Ein Jegliches, ein Jegliches hat seine Zeit, und alles Vornehmen unter dem Himmel hat seine Stunde, ein Jegliches hat sein Jahr, geboren werden und sterben, pflanzen und ausrotten, das gepflanzt ist, ein Jegliches, Jegliches hat seine Zeit, würgen und heilen, brechen und bauen, suchen und verlieren, seine Zeit, behalten und wegwerfen seine Zeit, zerreißen und zunähen, schweigen und reden. Ein Jegliches hat seine Zeit. Darum merkt ich, daß nichts Besseres ist, als fröhlich sein. Besseres als fröhlich sein. Fröhlich sein, laßt uns fröhlich sein. Es ist nichts Besseres unter der Sonne als lachen und fröhlich sein.”
― Alfred Döblin, Alfred Döblin: Berlin Alexanderplatz. Lektüreschlüssel

“Così il cementiere, poi trasportatore di mobili, Franz Biberkopf, uomo rozzo e incolto, di aspetto ripugnante, è di nuovo a Berlino, di nuovo sulla breccia, un uomo di cui una volta s’era innamorata una bella ragazzina figlia di un fabbro e lui ne aveva fatto una puttana e alla fine l’aveva ferita mortalmente durante una scenata di gelosia. Ora ha giurato a sé e al mondo di vivere onestamente. E onesto visse finché ebbe denaro. Poi però il denaro se ne andò, ma egli aveva aspettato proprio questo momento per mostrare a tutti che era capace di fare.”
― Alfred Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz

“Uma vez já caí na armadilha de uma palavra, tive de pagar um preço amargo...”
― Alfred Döblin

“Wir waren 7 hungrige Mäuler, und wenn es nichts zu essen gab, hat er uns Geschichten erzählt. Man wird nicht satt davon, aber man vergißt." S.22”
― Alfred Döblin, Königs Erläuterungen und Materialien - Alfred Döblin: Berlin Alexanderplatz

“There is a reaper, death yclept, by Almighty God employed.”
― Alfred Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz

“Men sedan man har upplevat och förstått mycket, att då ännu hålla fast, att icke dö utan känna, icke avvika utan hålla stånd, det är något.”
― Alfred Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz

“Sabeis como é, s'o pai é uma plantinha, quer logo qu'o filho seja árvore. S'o pai é uma pedra, o filho tem que ser uma montanha.”
― Alfred Doblin

“Man muß die Welt sehen können und zu ihr hingehn." S.25”
― Alfred Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz

“There is a reaper, death yclept.”
― Alfred Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz