... for the modern soul, for which it is mere child's play to bridge oceans and continents, there is nothing so impossible as to find the contact with the souls dwelling just around the corner. — Robert Musil Copy Share Image
A man who wants the truth becomes a scientist; a man who wants to give free play to his subjectivity may become a writer; but what should a man do who wants something in between? — Robert Musil Copy Share Image
“Everything we feel and do is somehow oriented "lifeward," and the least deviation away from this direction toward something beyond is difficult or alarming.… — Robert Musil Copy Share Image
“He was in that familiar state - not that the occasion mattered to seriously to him -- of incoherent ideas spreading outward without a… — Robert Musil Copy Share Image
It is life that does the thinking all around us, forming with playful ease the connections our reason can only laboriously patch together piecemeal,… — Robert Musil Copy Share Image
“What is it you do, then? I'll tell you: You leave out whatever doesn't suit you. As the author himself has done before you.… — Robert Musil Copy Share Image
and while faith based on theological reasoning is today universally engaged in a bitter struggle with doubt and resistance from the prevailing brand of… — Robert Musil Copy Share Image
What is the use of good painting? We want a spell cast upon the optical part of our existence! We seldom really see the… — Robert Musil Copy Share Image
That the will of the people can be established by voting for democrats is, of course, a delusion. Yet when considering a non-threatening system… — Robert Musil Copy Share Image
“Ein Mann, der die Wahrheit will, wird Gelehrter; ein Mann, der seine Subjektivität spielen lassen will, wird vielleicht Schriftsteller; was aber soll ein Mann… — Robert Musil Copy Share Image
“For a long time now a hint of aversion had lain on everything he did and experienced, a shadow of impotence and loneliness, an… — Robert Musil Copy Share Image
“All the knowledge that has led our species from wearing animal skins to people flying, complete with proofs, would fill a handful of reference… — Robert Musil Copy Share Image
I also believe that few people remain completely untouched by the thought that instead of the life they lead there might also be another,… — Robert Musil Copy Share Image
“His appearance gives no clue to what his profession might be, and yet he doesn't look like a man without a profession either. Consider… — Robert Musil Copy Share Image
