Skip to content

Around the corner Quote by Ingeborg Bachmann

“He would like to burrow under the earth like a bulb, like a root, to where it is still warm. To hibernate with his thoughts and feelings. To remain silent with a shrivelling mouth. He wishes that all the statements, insults, promises he has uttered would become invalid, forgotten by everyone and…” quote by Ingeborg Bachmann
Download Open image
““He would like to burrow under the earth like a bulb, like a root, to where it is still warm. To hibernate with his thoughts and feelings. To remain silent with a shrivelling mouth. He wishes that all the statements, insults, promises he has uttered would become invalid, forgotten by everyone and he himself forgotten too. But no sooner is he secured in the silence, no sooner does he fancy that he has wrapped himself up like a chrysalis, than he is no longer right. A wet, cold wind blows his absence of expectations around the corner, over a flower-stall filled with evergreens and flowers for the dead. And suddenly he is holding in his hands the snowdrops that he didn't want to buy--he who wanted to go empty-handed! The bells of the snowdrops begin to ring wildly and soundlessly, and he goes to where his ruin awaits him. Filled with expectation as never before, with the expectation and the desire for salvation accumulated through all the years.””

Ingeborg Bachmann

About This Quote

Source Poem: Unnamed, likely from a collection of her lyrical works, 20th century

A yearning for escape into silence and oblivion, yet being forced back into reality with unexpected hope and desire for redemption

In simple terms: Desire to disappear but forced to confront life

Key Takeaway

Embrace the inevitable, find meaning in unexpected moments

Themes

loneliness escape hope redemption

Mood

melancholic reflective

Type

poetic philosophical

When to use this quote

  • grief
  • personal crisis
  • creative block
  • spiritual searching

Key Concepts

Existentialism psychology symbolism

Questions to Reflect On

  • What does true silence mean to you?
  • How can unexpected hope change a bleak outlook?
A Different Perspective

Silence cannot erase past actions or feelings

4.2 out of 5 (4 ratings)

More by Ingeborg Bachmann

Explore all 35 Ingeborg Bachmann quotes

More Around the corner quotes

Browse all 569 Around the corner quotes