--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: he had to stand by while there…" description: "\"“he had to stand by while there proliferated in his own house such concepts as “the art of living thought” “the graph of spiritual growth” and “action ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/519/robert-musil-2009_art-of-living_he-had-to-stand-by-while-there-prolifera_2167388.jpg" --- # he had to stand by while there proliferated in his own… ![“he had to stand by while there proliferated in his own house such concepts as “the art of living thought” “the graph of spiritual growth” and “action on the wing”. he discovered that a biweekly ”hour of purification” was held regularly under his roof. he demanded an explanation. it turned out that…” quote by Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/519/robert-musil-2009_art-of-living_he-had-to-stand-by-while-there-prolifera_2167388.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/519/robert-musil-2009_art-of-living_he-had-to-stand-by-while-there-prolifera_2167388.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/519/robert-musil-2009_art-of-living_he-had-to-stand-by-while-there-prolifera_2167388.jpg) > ““he had to stand by while there proliferated in his own house such concepts as “the art of living thought” “the graph of spiritual growth” and “action on the wing”. he discovered that a biweekly ”hour of purification” was held regularly under his roof. he demanded an explanation. it turned out that what they meant by this was reading the poems of Stefan George together. Leo Fischel searched his old encyclopedia in vain for the poet’s name. but what irritated him most of all, old-style liberal that he was, was that these green pups referred to all the high government officials, bank presidents, and leading university figures in the Parallel Campaign as “puffed-up little men”. then there were the world-weary airs they gave themselves, complaining that the times had become devoid of great ideas, if there was anyone left who was ready for great ideas. that even “humanity” had become a mere buzzword, as far as they were concerned, and that only “the nation” or, as they called it, “folk and folkways” still really had any meaning. wiser than their years, they disdained “lust” and “the inflated lie about the crude enjoyment of animal existence” as they called it, but talked so much about supersensuality and mystical desire that the startled listener reacted willy-nilly by feeling a certain tenderness for sensuality and physical desires, and even Leo Fischel had to admit that the unbridled ardor of their language sometimes made the listener feel the roots of their ideas shooting down his legs, though he disapproved, because in his opinion great ideas were meant to be uplifting.”” [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage sat the pretentious intellectual elite who mask emptiness with lofty language, while neglecting genuine human experience and practical ideas. **In simple terms:** Empty rhetoric hides lack of real substance. Key Takeaway Seek authenticity over empty grandstanding. Themes elitism pretension authenticity intellectualism Mood cynical reflective Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - academic circles - political gatherings - literary salons - personal introspection Key Concepts existentialism social critique language theory Questions to Reflect On - Do you recognize when language is used to conceal emptiness? - How can we value substance over style? A Different Perspective The critique may overlook sincere individuals within such groups. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art of living](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-of-living/) [George Leo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/george-leo-4625639/) [Great ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-ideas/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Living Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-thought-611218/) [Poems Stefan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poems-stefan-4625636/) [Spiritual growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual-growth/) [Supersensuality Mystical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supersensuality-mystical-4625637/) [Talked Supersensuality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talked-supersensuality-4625638/) ## Related quotes > [I read somewhere that some people believe that the entire universe is a matrix of living thought. 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Leo Fischel searched his old encyclopedia in vain for the poet’s name. but what irritated him most of all, old-style liberal that he was, was that these green pups referred to all the high government officials, bank presidents, and leading university figures in the Parallel Campaign as “puffed-up little men”. then there were the world-weary airs they gave themselves, complaining that the times had become devoid of great ideas, if there was anyone left who was ready for great ideas. that even “humanity” had become a mere buzzword, as far as they were concerned, and that only “the nation” or, as they called it, “folk and folkways” still really had any meaning. wiser than their years, they disdained “lust” and “the inflated lie about the crude enjoyment of animal existence” as they called it, but talked so much about supersensuality and mystical desire that the startled listener reacted willy-nilly by feeling a certain tenderness for sensuality and physical desires, and even Leo Fischel had to admit that the unbridled ardor of their language sometimes made the listener feel the roots of their ideas shooting down his legs, though he disapproved, because in his opinion great ideas were meant to be uplifting.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Musil" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/he-had-to-stand-by-while-there-proliferated-in-his-own-house-such/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art of living" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/he-had-to-stand-by-while-there-proliferated-in-his-own-house-such/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/519/robert-musil-2009_art-of-living_he-had-to-stand-by-while-there-prolifera_2167388.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/519/robert-musil-2009_art-of-living_he-had-to-stand-by-while-there-prolifera_2167388.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/519/robert-musil-2009_art-of-living_he-had-to-stand-by-while-there-prolifera_2167388.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“he had to stand by while there proliferated in his own house such concepts as “the art of living thought”…” — Robert Musil", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Robert Musil", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“he had to stand by while...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/he-had-to-stand-by-while-there-proliferated-in-his-own-house-such/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/he-had-to-stand-by-while-there-proliferated-in-his-own-house-such/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```