Top 19 German Literature Quotes

#1. German writers in the late 18th century were the first to uphold a prickly, literary nationalism, in reaction to the then dominance and prestige of French literature.

Pankaj Mishra

#2. Frieda, you despise English music. You know you do. And English art. And English literature, except Shakespeare, and he's a German.

E. M. Forster

#3. I think if German literature could survive the '40s and Russian literature could survive Sovietism, American literature can survive Google.

Joshua Cohen

#4. More particularly, having a largely German-oriented education has made me very responsive to 19th-century German literature.

John Le Carre

#5. Love a man who'll bleed to make a point. (Candy)

Richard Kadrey

#6. Being an expert isn't telling other people what you know. It's understanding what questions to ask, and flexibly applying your knowledge to the specific situation at hand. Being an expert means providing sensible, highly contextual direction.

Jeff Atwood

#7. As factual and thoughtful literature began to seep in, against the Nazis' will, and replace the reams of Nazi propaganda, I began to see the German Jew in his historical role, in his good as well as his bad light.

Martha Dodd

#8. When Thomas Mann arrived in California from Germany, they asked him about German literature. And he said, 'German literature is where I am.' It's really a bit grand, but if a German can afford it, I can afford it.

Joseph Brodsky

#9. English has a better way with colloquialisms. It has colloquialisms that are colorful and expressive but not too heavy or distracting. In German, if you use colloquialisms, it quickly descends into some kind of dialect literature.

Daniel Kehlmann

#10. I would rather decline two drinks than one German adjective.

Mark Twain

#11. That's what I have you for," I grinned. "I'm just here to carry the heavy stuff. The union says thinking rolls me into overtime

Rob Thurman

#12. I taught principally German language and literature at Eton. But any master with private pupils must be prepared to teach anything they ask for. That can be as diverse as the early paintings of Salvador Dali or how bumblebees manage to fly.

John Le Carre

#13. Younger than Morini and Pelletier, Espinoza studied Spanish literature, not German literature, at least for the first two years of his university career, among other sad reasons because he dreamed of being a writer.

Roberto Bolano

#14. Since adolescence I've had a passion for Romantic Fantastique literature, which continued with Expressionism and culminated with the genius of Kafka. It's that German thread of the metaphysic - they were looking for the beyond in dreams.

Dumitru Tepeneag

#15. This is where you're going to tell me you're gay, isn't it?

Dan Skinner

#16. Contentment is the sibling of happiness;
joy is the fountain of both.

Matshona Dhliwayo

#17. There's a German term- heimweh, homesickness. It's a powerful sensation, like a narcotic. A yearning from home, but for something more- a past self, perhaps. A lost self. When I first saw you on the street, Katya, I felt such a sensation ... I have no idea why

Joyce Carol Oates

#18. I went to a British Council event a while back and there were lots of German professors of literature. About half of them were convinced I had a German sense of humour and the other half were sure it was British. They are probably still arguing about it now.

Tibor Fischer

#19. In fact I enjoyed every minute of my life at King's, especially the discovery of French and German literature.

Patrick White

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