Elias Canetti Quotes


One should not confuse the craving for life with endorsement of it. Elias Canetti Life 123
A head full of stars just not in constellation yet. Elias Canetti Stars 103
There is nothing that man fears more than the touch of the unknown. He wants to see what is reaching towards him, and to be able to recognize or at least classify it. Man always tends to avoid physical contact with anything strange. Elias Canetti Mystery 98
Adults find pleasure in deceiving a child. They consider it necessary, but they also enjoy it. The children very quickly figure it out and then practice deception themselves. Elias Canetti Children 79
Rulers who want to unleash war know very well that they must procure or invent a first victim. Elias Canetti First 78
Justice requires that everyone should have enough to eat. But it also requires that everyone should contribute to the production of food. Elias Canetti Food 77
Whether or not God is dead: it is impossible to keep silent about him who was there for so long. Elias Canetti God 74
When you write down your life, every page should contain something no one has ever heard about. Elias Canetti Legacy 70
People love as self-recognition what they hate as an accusation. Elias Canetti Love 66
Someone who always has to lie discovers that every one of his lies is true. Elias Canetti DeceptionLying 63
He who is obsessed by death is made guilty by it. Elias Canetti death 61
The paranoiac is the exact image of the ruler. The only difference is their position in the world. One might even think the paranoiac the more impressive of the two because he is sufficient unto himself and cannot be shaken by failure. Elias Canetti Mental 54
Success is the space one occupies in the newspaper. Success is one day's insolence. Elias Canetti Success 51
Every decision is liberating, even if it leads to disaster. Otherwise, why do so many people walk upright and with open eyes into their misfortune? Elias Canetti Decisions 50
One should use praise to recognize what one is not. Elias Canetti Praise 49
The process of writing has something infinite about it. Even though it is interrupted each night, it is one single notation. Elias Canetti Authors 43
It is important to say all the great thoughts again, without knowing that they have already been said. Elias Canetti Quotations 41
The fear of burglars is not only the fear of being robbed, but also the fear of a sudden and unexpected clutch out of the darkness. Elias Canetti Crime 39
Pessimists are not boring. Pessimists are right. Pessimists are superfluous. Elias Canetti Pessimism 39
The great writers of aphorisms read as if they had all known each other well. Elias Canetti Uncategorized 38
Most religions do not make men better, only warier. Elias Canetti Uncategorized 37
As if one could know the good a person is capable of, when one doesn't know the bad he might do. Elias Canetti Uncategorized 36
All the things one has forgotten scream for help in dreams. Elias Canetti dreams 36
The profoundest thoughts of the philosophers have something trickle about them. A lot disappears in order for something to suddenly appear in the palm of the hand. Elias Canetti Philosophy 36
Success listens only to applause. To all else it is deaf. Elias Canetti Success 35
Words are not too old, only people are too old if they use the same words too frequently. Elias Canetti Uncategorized 34
His head is made of stars, but not yet arranged into constellations. Elias Canetti Uncategorized 34
There is no such thing as an ugly language. Today I hear every language as if it were the only one, and when I hear of one that is dying, it overwhelms me as though it were the death of the earth. Elias Canetti Death 33
There is no doubt: the study of man is just beginning, at the same time that his end is in sight. Elias Canetti Humanity 31
The self-explorer, whether he wants to or not, becomes the explorer of everything else. He learns to see himself, but suddenly, provided he was honest, all the rest appears, and it is as rich as he was, and, as a final crowning, richer. Elias Canetti Identity 30
A modern man has nothing to add to modernism, if only because he has nothing to oppose it with. The well-adapted drop off the dead limb of time like lice. Elias Canetti Modern 30
Whenever you observe an animal closely, you feel as if a human being sitting inside were making fun of you. Elias Canetti Uncategorized 24

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