Schnipsel

by Kurt Tucholsky

German

Genres: German Literature

149 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Kurt Tucholsky was a German-Jewish journalist, satirist and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser, Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger, and Ignaz Wrobel. Born in Berlin-Moabit, he moved to Paris in 1924 and then to Sweden in 1930.

Tucholsky was one of the most important journalists of the Weimar Republic. As a politically engaged journalist and temporary co-editor of the weekly magazine Die Weltbühne he proved himself to be a social critic in the tradition of Heinrich Heine. He was simultaneously a satirist, an author of satirical political revues, a songwriter, and a poet. He saw himself as a left-wing democrat and pacifist and warned against anti-democratic tendencies—above all in politics, the military, and justice—and the threat of National Socialism. His fears were confirmed when the Nazis came to power in 1933: his books were listed on the Nazi's censorship as "Entartete Kunst" ("Degenerate Art") and burned, and he lost his German citizenship.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kurt Tucholsky, whose writing life spanned pre-WWI through early Third Reich Germany, was incredibly prolific. He wrote under his name and five pseudonyms; he wrote tender love stories and biting political commentary; he wrote comic sketches that caused readers to double over with laughter and travel pieces that inspired Wanderlust. Schnipsel (Snippets) is a thematic collection of his notebook musings and aphorisms culled from his many writings. Some of the topics include love, German politics, patriotism, religion, travel, hypocrisy, death, family, Europe and childrearing. Here are a few selections:

„Nichts ist schwerer und nichts erfordert mehr Charakter, als sich in offenem Gegensatz zu seiner Zeit zu befinden und laut zu sagen: Nein.“ (“Nothing is more difficult and nothing demands more character than to find oneself in open opposition in one's own age and loudly proclaim: No.”)

„Wer die Enge seiner Heimat ermessen will, reise. Wer die Enge seiner Zeit ermessen Will, studiere Geschichte.“ (“He who wants to measure the narrowness of his home, travel. He who wants to measure the narrowness of his time, study history.”)

„Ich reiste im Traum nach Kottbus und ließ dortselbst meine Handtasche stehen. Jetzt muß ich zurückträumen und sie holen.“ (“In a dream, I traveled to Cottbus and left my wallet there. Now I have to dream myself back to pick it up.”)

„Manchmal ist es schön, allein zu sein. Machmal ist es schön keinem Verein anzugehören. Manchmal ist es schön, vorbeizufahren.“ (“Sometimes it's nice to be alone. Sometimes it's nice not to belong to an organization. Sometimes it's nice to drive past.”)

„In Deutschland wird nicht bestochen. In Deutschland wird beinflußt. Und was in der Zeitung steht, ist nicht halb so wichtig wie das, was nicht drin steht.“ (“In Germany one doesn’t bribe. In Germany one influences. And what is written in the newspaper is half as important as what is not in there.”)

„Wegen ungünstiger Witterung fand die deutsche Revolution in der Musik statt.“ (“Because of inconvient weather, the German revolution took place in music.”)

„Jede Glorifizierung eines Menschen, der im Kriege getötet worden ist, bedeutet drei Tote im nächsten Krieg.“ ("Every glorification of a person who is killed in war means three more dead in the next war.”)

„Die Engländer wollen etwas zum Lesen, die Franzosen etwas zum schmecken, die Deutschen etwas zum Nachdenken.“ (“The English want something to read, the French want something to taste, the Germans want something to think about.”)

„Den Deutschen muß man verstehen, um ihn zum lieben; den Franzosen muß man lieben, um ihn zu verstehen.“ (“You have to understand a German to love him; you have to love a Frenchman to understand him.“)

„Über die ältere Nationalökonomie kann man ja nur lachen und dürfen wir selbe daher mit Stillschweigen übergehn. Sie regierte vom 715 vor Christo bis zum Jahr 1 nach Marx. Seitdem ist die Frage völig gelöst: die Leute haben zwar immer noch kein Geld, wissen aber wenigstens, warum.“ (“One can only laugh about the older national economy and we, ourselves, are allowed to be silent about it. It ruled from 715 before Christ until year 1 after Marx. Since then the question has been answered: we still don’t have money, but at least we know why.”)

„Eine Katze die eine Maus tötet, ist grausam. Ein Wilder, der seinen Feind auffrißt, ist grausam. Aber das grausamste von allen Lebewesen ist eine patriotische Frau.“ (“A cat that kills a mouse is gruesome. A savage who rips open his prey is gruesome. But the most gruesome of all living creatures is a patriotic woman.”)

„Ein skeptischer Katholik ist mir lieber als ein gläubiger Atheist.“ (“A skeptical Catholic is more preferable to me than a devout Atheist.”)

„Dies ist die wahrste aller Demokratien, die Demokratie des Todes.“ (“The most authentic of all democracies is the democracy of death.”)