Quotes from book
Beware of Pity

Beware of Pity
Stefan Zweig Original title Ungeduld des Herzens (German, 1939)

Beware of Pity is a 1939 novel by the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig. It was Zweig's longest work of fiction. It was adapted into a 1946 film of the same title, directed by Maurice Elvey.

Stefan Zweig photo

“Everything in life that deviates from the straight and, so to speak, normal line, makes people first curious and then indignant.”

Stefan Zweig book Beware of Pity

Beware of Pity (1939)

Stefan Zweig photo

“No envy is more mean than that of small-minded beings when they see a neighbor lifted, as though borne aloft by angels, out of the dull drudgery of their common existence; petty spirits are more ready to forgive a prince the most fabulous wealth than a fellow-sufferer beneath the same yoke the smallest degree of freedom.”

Stefan Zweig book Beware of Pity

Beware of Pity (1939)

Stefan Zweig photo

“Only a numskull is pleased at being a so-called 'success' with women, only a dunderhead is puffed up by it. A real man is much more likely to be dismayed at realizing that a woman has lost her heart to him when he can't reciprocate her feelings.”

Stefan Zweig book Beware of Pity

Beware of Pity (1939)