Quotes from Heinrich Boll

Feelings can even kill such good hard things as love and hate.

Crees que me sentó bien cuando Leo me dijo que se hacía católico? Fue tan doloroso para mí como la muerte de Henriette; no me habría dolido tanto si me hubiese dicho que se hacía comunista. Eso puedo concebirlo, que un joven albergue un falso sueño de justicia social y todo eso. Pero aquello.»

I'll give that boy the farm Heinrich couldn't take. Write me his name and address on a coaster. All the most important messages are sent on beer mats...

Ich weine, wissend, daß Tränen eines Säufers nicht zählen, kein Gewicht haben- und ich spüre etwas, das ich nicht Gewissensbisse, sondern einfach Schmerz nennen möchte.

Táblákat kellene állítani a kortárs regények elé: ideköltözni tilos, letelepedni tilos, itt berendezkedni tilos. Aki szilárd talajt akar a lába alá, annak sokkal több kell, mint amit az irodalom és m?vészet valaha is nyújthat.

Por felicidad, no alcanzo a entender nada que dure más de un segundo, puede que dos o tres como máximo.

GörünüÅŸte laf olsun diye söylenmiÅŸ baz? sözler birdenbire hileli bir havaya bürünür. A??rla??p tuhaf bir ÅŸekilde h?z alarak gelecek zaman?n herhangi bir bölümünde bir yer açmak üzere, konuÅŸandan öne geçer, hedefini kesinlikle bulan bir bumerang gibi korkunç, konuÅŸana geri döner yine.

Every death is a murder, every death in war is a murder for which someone is responsible.

Seni ÅŸu pencerenin önünde ilk gördüÄŸüm an, s?rt?n?, enseni, eÄŸilmiÅŸ genç vücudunu, sanki bin ya??ndaym??s?n gibi eÄŸilmiÅŸ vücudunu gördüÄŸüm an, yaln?zca suçsuzlar? öldürdüÄŸümüzü anlam?? oldum... yaln?zca suÅŸsuzlar?...

Ötekiler gülüyor, para umurlar?nda deÄŸil, dertleri vakit öldürmek. Ne zor ne korkunç bir iÅŸ bu vakit öldürmek; ufkun ard?nda göze görünmeksizin h?zla dönüp duran ÅŸu saniye göstergesi yok mu, onun durmadan koÅŸmaya devam ettiÄŸini, amans?zca koÅŸup durduÄŸunu bilmek yok mu?...

I am a clown...and I collect moments.

I don't trust Catholics," I said, "because they take advantage of you." "And Protestants?" he asked with a laugh. "I loathe the way they fumble around with their consciences." "And atheists?" He was still laughing. "They bore me because all they ever talk about is God.

A family without a black sheep is not a typical family.

Feelings can kill such good hard things as love and hate.

Ich bin ein Clown und sammle Augenblicke.

Strangely enough I like the kind to which I belong: people.

One would like to know, for most people, being denied reliable telepathic communication, reach for the phone, which they feel is more reliable.

she said she would not sign any deposition containing the word "amorous" instead of "advances". For her the difference was of crucial significance, and one of the reasons she had separated from her husband was that he had never been amorous but had consistently made advances.

One thing is certain, anyone who collects art is not an artist.

Eine Familie, die keine schwarzen Schafe hat, ist keine charakteristische Familie." ("A family without a black sheep is not a typical family.")

For the outsider--and everyone in this world is an outsider in relation to everyone else--something always seems worse or better than it does for the one directly concerned, whether that something is good luck or bad luck, an unhappy love affair or an 'artistic decline'.

To cling to the past is hypocrisy, because no one knows those moments.

One ought to go too far, in order to know how far one can go.

Behind every word a whole world is hidden that must be imagined. Actually, every word has a great burden of memories, not only just of one person but of all mankind. Take a word such as bread, or war; take a word such as chair, or bed or Heaven. Behind every word is a whole world. I'm afraid that most people use words as something to throw away without sensing the burden that lies in a word.