Tale of a houseplant
“Formerly, yes, art and culture, and the Apollonian and the Dionysian and all that, seemed terribly important. But today I’m satisfied if I can turn […]
hermann hesse
Winter scene
Reading Rosshalde by Hermann Hesse. “He did not think about it, he deadened his thoughts with constant work. His feeling was: you can go at […]
For madmen only
“Do you think I can’t understand your horror of the fox trot, your dislike of bars and dancing floors, your loathing of jazz and the […]
Y Pues Nada
“We have not chosen this time. We cannot help it if we are born as men of the early winter of full Civilization, instead of […]
That persistent dread
The End The flame that lured me through the pain Of frantic pleasure has flickered and gone out. My rigid fingers scream with gout, And […]
Old Friend (black and white photo)
I recently came upon this translation of a poem by Hermann Hesse which I like a lot: Pruned Oak by Hermann Hesse Oh oak tree, […]
The eye trains itself to transmit many small delights
“I believe I am a stranger to humanity. I did not want just to paint people with their grimaces and gestures. What I really wanted […]
The voice of destiny
“Might your bitter pain not be the voice of destiny, might that voice not become sweet once you understand it?” – Hermann Hesse *** “Great […]
Misfits to whom the art of life and the art of love are foreign
“[Herman] Hesse’s pre-1917 heroes [in his novels] are made of soft stuff. They are predominantly esthetes who live only in dreams, hopes and anticipation, and […]
That beast astray who finds neither home nor joy nor nourishment in a world that is strange and incomprehensible
“I cannot understand what pleasures and joys they are that drive people to the overcrowded railways and hotels, into the packed cafés with the suffocating […]
You’ve forgotten your childhood; It will make you suffer until you heed it
“In your case, mind and nature, consciousness and dream world lie very far apart. You’ve forgotten your childhood; it cries for you from the depths […]
My attempts to adapt myself to the standardized world remain fruitless
It may well be that my thinking of today is somewhat different from that of twenty years ago, but my feelings and my being, my […]