--- title: "Best Robert Musil Quotations" description: "Robert Musil was an Austrian writer of novels, short stories and plays, best known for his unfinished novel The Man Without Qualities." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b021/author-robert-musil-80085.jpg" --- ![Portrait of Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b021/author-robert-musil-80085.jpg) # Robert Musil (1880–1942) Writer Austria **139** quotes in **596** categories Rate this collection: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet Robert Musil was a writer from Austria, best known for *Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törless*. ## Quick Facts About Robert Musil Born November 6, 1880 Died April 15, 1942 Nationality Austria Profession Writer Notable works Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törless Known for The Confusions of Young Törless, The Man Without Qualities, The Posthumous Papers of a Living Author Spouse Martha Musil ## About Robert Musil Robert Mathias Musil was an Austrian philosophical writer of novels, short stories and plays. He published his first novel, The Confusions of Young Törless, in 1906. His unfinished novel, The Man Without Qualities, is considered a major modernist work. ## Awards & Honors Gerhart Hauptmann prize Kleist Prize ## Quotes by Robert Musil · Page 4 > [Every day there comes a moment when a person lays his hands in his lap and all his busyness collapses like ashes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/every-day-there-comes-a-moment-when-a-person-lays-his-hands-in-his/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Accomplished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accomplished/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c18/robert-musil-2009_accomplished_every-day-there-comes-a-moment-when-a-pe_1497863.jpg) > [We sometimes have a flash of understanding that amounts to the insight of genius, and yet it slowly withers, even in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/we-sometimes-have-a-flash-of-understanding-that-amounts-to-the/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Amount](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amount/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/673/robert-musil-2009_amount_we-sometimes-have-a-flash-of-understandi_980438.jpg) > [... there is a particular propensity in the world for people, wherever they appear in great numbers, to permit themselves collectively everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/there-is-a-particular-propensity-in-the-world-for-people-wherever/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Collectively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collectively/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef5/robert-musil-2009_collectively_there-is-a-particular-propensity-in-the_2785830.jpg) > [ In their field they \[mathematicians\] do what we ought to be doing in ours. Therein lies the significant lesson ... of their… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/in-their-field-they-mathematicians-do-what-we-ought-to-be-doing-in/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Analogies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/analogies/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b6/robert-musil-2009_analogies_in-their-field-they-mathematicians-do-wh_2883254.jpg) > [All still lifes are actually paintings of the world on the sixth day of creation, when God and the world were alone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/all-still-lifes-are-actually-paintings-of-the-world-on-the-sixth-day/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67b/robert-musil-2009_creation_all-still-lifes-are-actually-paintings-o_2161039.jpg) > [“A motorcyclist rode down the empty street, arms and legs rounded in an O, and came back up with the sound of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/a-motorcyclist-rode-down-the-empty-street-arms-and-legs-rounded-in-an/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af5/robert-musil-2009_children_a-motorcyclist-rode-down-the-empty-stree_452243.jpg) > [A man who wants the truth becomes a scientist; a man who wants to give free play to his subjectivity may become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/a-man-who-wants-the-truth-becomes-a-scientist-a-man-who-wants-to-give/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Free play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-play/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1db/robert-musil-2009_free-play_a-man-who-wants-the-truth-becomes-a-scie_1804928.jpg) > [Every word wants to be taken literally, else it decays into a lie. But one mustn't take any word literally, else the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/every-word-wants-to-be-taken-literally-else-it-decays-into-a-lie-but/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Decay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decay/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a6/robert-musil-2009_decay_every-word-wants-to-be-taken-literally-e_1110593.jpg) > [“For if one is partly insane, one is also, juridically, partly sane, and if one is partly sane one is at least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/for-if-one-is-partly-insane-one-is-also-juridically-partly-sane-and/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/042/robert-musil-2009_identity_for-if-one-is-partly-insane-one-is-also_346974.jpg) > [It was the tenderness mingled with melancholy which we bring to a time that belongs irrevocably to the past, when a pale,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/it-was-the-tenderness-mingled-with-melancholy-which-we-bring-to-a/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Delicate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delicate/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18e/robert-musil-2009_delicate_it-was-the-tenderness-mingled-with-melan_1712401.jpg) > [That the will of the people can be established by voting for democrats is, of course, a delusion. Yet when considering a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/that-the-will-of-the-people-can-be-established-by-voting-for/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Civilized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilized/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/robert-musil-2009_civilized_that-the-will-of-the-people-can-be-estab_114602.jpg) > [What is perceptible to one’s mistrust is the cut-and-dried way that life is divided up and the ready-made form it assumes, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/what-is-perceptible-to-one-s-mistrust-is-the-cut-and-dried-way-that/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Assuming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assuming/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f7/robert-musil-2009_assuming_what-is-perceptible-to-one-s-mistrust-is_1593057.jpg) > [“And so the mind or spirit is the great opportunist, itself impossible to pin down, take hold of, anywhere; one is tempted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/and-so-the-mind-or-spirit-is-the-great-opportunist-itself-impossible/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47f/robert-musil-2009_mind_and-so-the-mind-or-spirit-is-the-great-o_338503.jpg) > [“Philosophers are despots who have no armies to command, so they subject the world to their tyranny by locking it up in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/philosophers-are-despots-who-have-no-armies-to-command-so-they/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Despots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despots/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17a/robert-musil-2009_philosophy_philosophers-are-despots-who-have-no-arm_2145897.jpg) > [The thoughts of my emotionally so disturbed days must be found again, shifted and developed further. Here and there something of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/the-thoughts-of-my-emotionally-so-disturbed-days-must-be-found-again/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/robert-musil-2009_attention_the-thoughts-of-my-emotionally-so-distur_498967.jpg) > [ There is, in short, no great idea that stupidity could not put to its own uses \[…\] The truth by comparison, has… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/there-is-in-short-no-great-idea-that-stupidity-could-not-put-to-its/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Appearance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appearance/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/506/robert-musil-2009_appearance_there-is-in-short-no-great-idea-that-stu_417945.jpg) > [The difference between a healthy person and one who is mentally ill is the fact that the healthy one has all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/the-difference-between-a-healthy-person-and-one-who-is-mentally-ill/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9be/robert-musil-2009_health_the-difference-between-a-healthy-person_1589998.jpg) > [“Things seemed to consist not of wood and stone but of some grandiose and infinitely tender immorality that, the moment it came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/things-seemed-to-consist-not-of-wood-and-stone-but-of-some-grandiose/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Immorality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immorality/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad7/robert-musil-2009_immorality_things-seemed-to-consist-not-of-wood-and_479520.jpg) > [Stupidity is active in every direction, and can dress up in all the clothes of truth. Truth, on the other hand, has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/stupidity-is-active-in-every-direction-and-can-dress-up-in-all-the/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Active](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/active/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/526/robert-musil-2009_active_stupidity-is-active-in-every-direction-a_2488083.jpg) ## Robert Musil by topic [Life (30)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/robert-musil/) [Time (16)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/robert-musil/) [World (10)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/robert-musil/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/#itemlist", "name": "Robert Musil Quotes", "numberOfItems": 19, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Every day there comes a moment when a person lays his hands in his lap and all his busyness collapses like ashes. 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But one mustn't take any word literally, else the world becomes a madhouse.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Musil" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/every-word-wants-to-be-taken-literally-else-it-decays-into-a-lie-but/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a6/robert-musil-2009_decay_every-word-wants-to-be-taken-literally-e_1110593.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a6/robert-musil-2009_decay_every-word-wants-to-be-taken-literally-e_1110593.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a6/robert-musil-2009_decay_every-word-wants-to-be-taken-literally-e_1110593.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Every word wants to be taken literally, else it decays into a lie. 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Yet when considering a non-threatening system for deciding between diverse interests, then voting, of course, can be regarded as a humane and civilized process.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Musil" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/that-the-will-of-the-people-can-be-established-by-voting-for/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/robert-musil-2009_civilized_that-the-will-of-the-people-can-be-estab_114602.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/robert-musil-2009_civilized_that-the-will-of-the-people-can-be-estab_114602.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/robert-musil-2009_civilized_that-the-will-of-the-people-can-be-estab_114602.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That the will of the people can be established by voting for democrats is, of course, a delusion. Yet when…” — Robert Musil", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What is perceptible to one’s mistrust is the cut-and-dried way that life is divided up and the ready-made form it assumes, the ever-recurring sameness of it, the pre-formations passed down by generation after generation, the ready-made language not only of the tongue but also of the sensations and the feelings.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Musil" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/what-is-perceptible-to-one-s-mistrust-is-the-cut-and-dried-way-that/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f7/robert-musil-2009_assuming_what-is-perceptible-to-one-s-mistrust-is_1593057.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f7/robert-musil-2009_assuming_what-is-perceptible-to-one-s-mistrust-is_1593057.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f7/robert-musil-2009_assuming_what-is-perceptible-to-one-s-mistrust-is_1593057.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What is perceptible to one’s mistrust is the cut-and-dried way that life is divided up and the ready-made…” — Robert Musil", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And so the mind or spirit is the great opportunist, itself impossible to pin down, take hold of, anywhere; one is tempted to believe that of all its influence nothing is left but decay. 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Here and there something of the loose remarks I make must be used, but only when it finds my attention again.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Musil" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/the-thoughts-of-my-emotionally-so-disturbed-days-must-be-found-again/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/robert-musil-2009_attention_the-thoughts-of-my-emotionally-so-distur_498967.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/robert-musil-2009_attention_the-thoughts-of-my-emotionally-so-distur_498967.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/robert-musil-2009_attention_the-thoughts-of-my-emotionally-so-distur_498967.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The thoughts of my emotionally so disturbed days must be found again, shifted and developed further. 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