Quotes from Ernst Junger

Toleration of all sides, of which we were so proud, must be seen for what it is – a negative quality. He who as no real belief in anything can certainly be tolerant and to spare; but only intolerance has any force behind it.

It was boring like reading a Scandinavian novel.

He realized the shipwreck had already happened and that he was floating on a raft of ruins.

This indicates how far the law has become dubious. People have a sense of being under foreign occupation, and in this relation the criminal appears a kindred soul.

Preserving one's true nature is arduous—and the more so when one is weighed down with goods.

Leaving out trifles such as ricochets and grazes, I was hit at least fourteen times, these being five bullets, two shell splinters, one shrapnel ball, four hand-grenade splinters and two bullet splinters, which, with entry and exit wounds, left me an even twenty scars.

It is infinitely more appealing to be a criminal than a bourgeois.

General" stands here for the individual who goes into action, whether freely or forcedly. Since anarchy offers him an especially favorable charge, this type is permanent today. Thus, "general" has a universal rather than a special meaning. It can be replaced ad libitum. It refers not to a profession but to a condition. The latter may also crop up in a coolie, in which case it is particularly effective.

When society involves the anarch in a conflict which in which he does not participate inwardly, it challenges him to launch an opposition. He will try to turn the lever with which society moves him. Society is then at his disposal, say, as a stage for grand spectacles that are devised for him. Everything changes; the fetter becomes fascinating, danger an adventure, a suspenseful task.

One of the anarch's emoluments is that he is distinguished for things that he has done on the side or that go against his grain.

Todos vosotros conocéis la profunda melancolía que nos sobrecoge al recordar los tiempos felices. Esos tiempos que se han alejado para no volver más y de los cuales estamos más implacablemente separados que por cualquier distancia. Y las imágenes de la vida son más seductoras todavía vistas en el reflejo que nos dejan, y pensamos en ellas como en el cuerpo de una amada difunta que reposara bajo tierra y que de pronto se nos apareciera, como un luminoso espejismo...

Obitus vitae otium est (Death is life's rest).

The ship founders on a sandbank and then gets back afloat. Electric power stops; after a while, the machines start up again. During such recesses, the anarch measures his own strength and autonomy.

What is the meaning of the immense silence that surrounds the dead?

I supposed I'd been hit in the heart, but the prospect of death neither hurt nor frightened me. As I fell, I saw the smooth, white pebbles in the muddy road; their arrangement made sense, it was as necessary as that of the stars, and certainly great wisdom was hidden in it. That concerned me, and mattered more than the slaughter that was going on all round me.

I could not bank on the phlegmatic Chinese; I would have to take care of it myself. This would be safer and also consistent with my own responsibility. The latter is the anarch's ultimate authority.

Er schien uns männliche Tat, ein fröhliches Schützengefecht auf blumigen, blutbetauten Wiesen.

There's nothing like being in your own bed at home, and your old woman nuzzling you all over.

For this reason I consider that troops composed of boys of twenty, under experienced leadership, are the most formidable.

Wir schaffen unsere eigene Welt – und was wir erfahren ist nicht Zufall. Dinge werden zu uns durch unsere Veranlagung hervorgebracht, - die Welt ist so wie wir sind." STRAHLUNGEN (1949). 47.

Alle Zufälle unseres Lebens sind Materialien, aus denen wir machen können, was wir wollen. Wer viel Geist hat, macht viel aus seinem Leben. Jede Bekanntschaft, jeder Vorfall wäre für den durchaus Geistigen erstes Glied einer unendlichen Reihe – Anfang eines unendlichen Romans.

La Guerra, que tantas cosas nos quita, es generosa en este aspecto; nos educa para una comunidad masculina y vuelve a situar en el lugar que les corresponde unos valores que estaban semiolvidados.

Die grossen Gedanken entspringen im Herzen, und scheitern an der Welt. GESAMT WERKE. Band 17.

Du kannst nicht zu einem Brunnenfrosch vom Ozean sprechen. GESAMT WERKE. Band 2