--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am not fooling myself with dreams of…" description: "\"I am not fooling myself with dreams of immortality, know how relative all literature is, don't have any faith in mankind, derive enjoyment from too few..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b8/stefan-zweig-811_birth_i-am-not-fooling-myself-with-dreams-of-i_3091538.jpg" --- # I am not fooling myself with dreams of immortality, know… ![“I am not fooling myself with dreams of immortality, know how relative all literature is, don't have any faith in mankind, derive enjoyment from too few things. Sometimes these crises give birth to something worth while, sometimes they simply plunge one deeper into depression, but, of course, it is…” quote by Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b8/stefan-zweig-811_birth_i-am-not-fooling-myself-with-dreams-of-i_3091538.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b8/stefan-zweig-811_birth_i-am-not-fooling-myself-with-dreams-of-i_3091538.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b8/stefan-zweig-811_birth_i-am-not-fooling-myself-with-dreams-of-i_3091538.jpg) > “I am not fooling myself with dreams of immortality, know how relative all literature is, don't have any faith in mankind, derive enjoyment from too few things. Sometimes these crises give birth to something worth while, sometimes they simply plunge one deeper into depression, but, of course, it is all part of the same thing.” [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life’s crises can both deepen despair and inspire meaningful creation; literature feels fleeting. **In simple terms:** Crises can spark growth or deepen gloom. Key Takeaway Embrace hardship as potential creative fuel. Themes existential creativity despair Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - artistic creation - therapy - writing retreats Key Concepts literary relativism humanism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What personal meaning can you extract from suffering? - How does literature shape your worldview? A Different Perspective Not all crises lead to positive outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Crisis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crisis/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Depression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depression/) [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Enjoyment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enjoyment/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Immortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immortality/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) ## Related quotes > [The dreams of human beings are dark, heavy and morbid and simplistic and boring. The dreams of immortality are endless and shining, they shimmer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-dreams-of-human-beings-are-dark-heavy-and-morbid-and-simplistic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. —SUSAN ERTZ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-allen/millions-long-for-immortality-who-do-not-know-what-to-do-with-2/) [David Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-allen/) > [“I is for immortality, which for some poets is a necessary compensation. Presumably miserable in this life, they will be remembered when the rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/i-is-for-immortality-which-for-some-poets-is-a-necessary-compensation/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [The most beautiful conception of immortality of which I know, and certainly one that by contrast shows the utter vulgarity of Christian ideas, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/revilo-p-oliver/the-most-beautiful-conception-of-immortality-of-which-i-know-and/) [Revilo P. Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/revilo-p-oliver/) > [If you want to ascend like the Prophet to the sky of immortality, know this very well: Fasting is your Arabian stallion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/if-you-want-to-ascend-like-the-prophet-to-the-sky-of-immortality-know/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [The only immortality we know of is our children, and in that unfinished story of the acts of lives, which, forever expanding, like waves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-cattell/the-only-immortality-we-know-of-is-our-children-and-in-that/) [Raymond Cattell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-cattell/) > [From desire I plunge to its fulfilment, where I long once more for desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/from-desire-i-plunge-to-its-fulfilment-where-i-long-once-more-for/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Hold to the now, the here, through which all future plunges to the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/hold-to-the-now-the-here-through-which-all-future-plunges-to-the-past/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Human history, like all great movements, was cyclical, and returned to the point of beginning. The idea of indefinite progress in a right line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/human-history-like-all-great-movements-was-cyclical-and-returned-to/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [Blood fills my mouth. Fire sears my veins. I choke back a howl. The silver knife slips--the choice is mine. I am death or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bree-despain/blood-fills-my-mouth-fire-sears-my-veins-i-choke-back-a-howl-the/) [Bree Despain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bree-despain/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [At my death paint my body with red paint and plunge it into fresh water to be restored back to life, otherwise my bones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crazy-horse/at-my-death-paint-my-body-with-red-paint-and-plunge-it-into-fresh/) [Crazy Horse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crazy-horse/) > [Poetry is like walking along a little, tiny, narrow ridge up on a precipice. You never know the next step, whether there's going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-jacobsen/poetry-is-like-walking-along-a-little-tiny-narrow-ridge-up-on-a/) Josephine Jacobsen > [There is no passion in nature so demoniacally impatient, as that of him who, shuddering upon the edge of a precipice, thus meditates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/there-is-no-passion-in-nature-so-demoniacally-impatient-as-that-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [These days grief seems like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/these-days-grief-seems-like-walking-on-a-frozen-river-most-of-the/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) ## More by Stefan Zweig > [“Madness,” he exclaimed to himself, in astonishment, faltering. “Madness! What do they want? Once again, once again!” War once again, war that had so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/madness-he-exclaimed-to-himself-in-astonishment-faltering-madness/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [It is never until one realizes that one means something to others that one feels there is any point or purpose in one's own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/it-is-never-until-one-realizes-that-one-means-something-to-others/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [“And if I am asked today to advise a young writer who has not yet made up his mind what way to go, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/and-if-i-am-asked-today-to-advise-a-young-writer-who-has-not-yet-made/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [“Live and let live” was the famous Viennese motto, which today still seems to me to be more humane than all the categorical imperatives,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/live-and-let-live-was-the-famous-viennese-motto-which-today-still/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [“Değerli olan her zaman için gerçeğin yarısı değil, tamamıdır.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/de-erli-olan-her-zaman-i-in-ger-e-in-yar-s-de-il-tamam-d-r/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [One never gets to know a person's character better than by watching his behavior during decisive moments… It is always only danger which forces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/one-never-gets-to-know-a-person-s-character-better-than-by-watching/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [Names have a mysterious transforming power. Like a ring on a finger, a name may at first seem merely accidental, committing you to nothing;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/names-have-a-mysterious-transforming-power-like-a-ring-on-a-finger-a/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [There is no sense to a sacrifice after you come to feel that it is a sacrifice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/there-is-no-sense-to-a-sacrifice-after-you-come-to-feel-that-it-is-a/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [No guilt is forgotten so long as the conscience still knows of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/no-guilt-is-forgotten-so-long-as-the-conscience-still-knows-of-it/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [Nothing that has ever been thought and said with a clear mind and pure ethical strength is totally in vain; even if it comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/nothing-that-has-ever-been-thought-and-said-with-a-clear-mind-and/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [It is the way of youth that each fresh piece of knowledge of life should go to its head, and that once uplifted by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/it-is-the-way-of-youth-that-each-fresh-piece-of-knowledge-of-life/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [“The truths that he finds may in the coming months or even the coming years be truths no more. He must be forever searching.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/the-truths-that-he-finds-may-in-the-coming-months-or-even-the-coming/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [The union of opposites, in so far as they are really complementary, always results in the most perfect harmony; and the seemingly incongruous is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/the-union-of-opposites-in-so-far-as-they-are-really-complementary/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [The sight of a wedding always has a disturbing effect on young girls; at such moments a mysterious sense of solidarity with their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/the-sight-of-a-wedding-always-has-a-disturbing-effect-on-young-girls/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [“Lightly, caressingly, Marie Antoinette picked up the crown as a gift. 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From the time that an ovum is fertilized a new life begins that is neither that of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/declaration-on-procured-abortion-congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith-1974/conception-is-the-beginning-of-human-life-from-the-time-that-an-ovum/) Declaration on Procured Abortion Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 1974 > [In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another day just like today, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/in-the-entire-history-of-the-universe-let-alone-in-your-own-history/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [The greatest mystery in life is not life itself, but death. Death is the culmination of life, the ultimate blossoming of life. In death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-greatest-mystery-in-life-is-not-life-itself-but-death-death-is/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Guns have little or nothing to do with juvenile violence. 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It was the Lord speaking to us all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-rivers/it-was-no-accident-no-coincidence-that-the-seasons-came-round-and/) [Francine Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-rivers/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. 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