Elfriede Jelinek: Quotes about people

Elfriede Jelinek is Austrian writer. Explore interesting quotes on people.
Elfriede Jelinek: 100 quotes14 likes

“Of course, art turns many people away for there has to be a limit. The limits between the gifted and the ungifted.”

Elfriede Jelinek book The Piano Teacher

P 27
The Piano Teacher (1988)

“In the old days people had no time to harm the environment because they were busy doing harm to themselves, in the War, for instance.”

Elfriede Jelinek book Wonderful, Wonderful Times

60
Wonderful, Wonderful Times (1990)

“The world would be a lot better off if it paid more attention to its philosophers and artists than to its own tiny egotistic spirit, which lacks an overview. People should place their belief in Beethoven and Socrates.”

Elfriede Jelinek book Wonderful, Wonderful Times

p 40
Wonderful, Wonderful Times (1990)

“We are monsters, even if we disguise ourselves as ordinary people. We are the children of ordinary people but we are not content with that. Inwardly we are consumed with wickedness, outwardly we are grammar school pupils.”

Elfriede Jelinek book Wonderful, Wonderful Times

Wonderful, Wonderful Times (1990)

“Time stands still for man and woman alike, it is a good moment, because Time usually makes everything worse, poor people grow old, rich people can buy a little time but they can'hold it up for good, it always catches up with them. In the last analysis, Time is democratic.”

Elfriede Jelinek book Wonderful, Wonderful Times

123
Wonderful, Wonderful Times (1990)

“The most powerful urge known to Man is the urge to be free of manual labour. Any means that accomplishes that end is fine. Some people erroneously imagine that they have a birthright to non-manual work.”

Elfriede Jelinek book Wonderful, Wonderful Times

60
Wonderful, Wonderful Times (1990)

“For the eyes are the mirror of the soul and ought to remain unscathed if at all possible. Otherwise people will suppose the soul is done for.”

Elfriede Jelinek book Wonderful, Wonderful Times

p 7
Wonderful, Wonderful Times (1990)

“First the masters died, now their music is dying, because people only want to listen to pop, rock, and punk.”

Elfriede Jelinek book The Piano Teacher

P 69
The Piano Teacher (1988)

“Stifter tells us that people are not free, that they are slaves to the laws of Nature. So you have to commit violent deeds (if you don’t have anyone to do other kinds of deeds with), actions that ordinary people would call crimes but which we define as the norm, though of course it is our norm and no that of the rest.”

Elfriede Jelinek book Wonderful, Wonderful Times

55
Wonderful, Wonderful Times (1990)

“After all, people with a herd instinct hold mediocrity in high esteem. They praise it as having great value. They believe they are strong because they are the majority. The middling level has no terrors, no anxieties. They huddle together, indulging in the illusion of warmth. If you’re alone with nothing, and certainly not yourself. And how content they are with that state of affairs!”

Elfriede Jelinek book The Piano Teacher

P 66
The Piano Teacher (1988)

“When discussing Bach’s six Brandenburg concertos, the artistically aware person usually states, among other things, that when these masterpieces were composed, the stars were dancing in heavens. God and his dwelling place are always involved whenever these people talk about Bach.”

Elfriede Jelinek book The Piano Teacher

P159
The Piano Teacher (1988)