Born this week:
Hermann Broch, Austria
"The maker of kitsch does not create inferior art, he is not an incompetent or a bungler, he cannot be evaluated by aesthetic standards; rather, he is ethically depraved, a criminal willing radical evil. And since it is radical evil that is manifest here, evil per se, forming the absolute negative pole of every value-system, kitsch will always be evil, not just kitsch in art, but kitsch in every value-system that is not an imitation system."
Ilse Aichinger, Austria
"The distance to the corner shops of childhood becomes unfathomable, immeasurable; the candy bars have changed. And change has changed."
Gunter de Bruyn, Germany
Moa Martinson, Sweden
Andre Malraux, France
"The sons of torture victims make good terrorists."
Ciro Alegria, Peru
Rene Maran, Martinique
"Hatred is one long wait."
Robert Musil, Austria
"I am not only convinced that what I say is false, but also that what one might say against it is false. Despite this, one must begin to talk about it. In such a case the truth lies not in the middle, but rather all around, like a sack, which, with each new opinion one stuffs into it, changes its form, and becomes more and more firm."
James Jones, USA
"I don't think that combat has ever been written about truthfully; it has always been described in terms of bravery and cowardice. I won't even accept these words as terms of human reference any more. And anyway, hell, they don't even apply to what, in actual fact, modern warfare has become."
Died this week:
Gertrud von Le Fort, Germany
Alexander Bek, Russia
Hans Erich Nossack, Germany
"Why go on? I mean, why record all this? Wouldn’t it be better to surrender it to oblivion for all time? For those who were there certainly don’t have to read it. And the others, and those who will come later? What if they read it only to enjoy something strange and uncanny and to make themselves feel more alive? Does it take an apocalypse to do that? Or a descent into the underworld?"
William Styron, USA
"A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it."
Leon Bloy, France
"There are places in the heart that do not yet exist; suffering has to enter in for them to come to be."
Karel Capek, Czech
"Art must not serve might."
Carl Sternheim, Germany
Johannes Urzidil, Austria
Claude Aveline, France
John Fowles, UK
"There are only two races on this planet—the intelligent and the stupid."
Maurice Leblanc, France
Antonio Baldini, Italy
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