Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Meandering . . .

Today is the birthday of Nicolaas Thomas Bernhard (February 9, 1931 – February 12, 1989), playwright, novelist and poet.

"We only really face up to ourselves when we are afraid." - Thomas Bernhard

"I did not want to be anything, and naturally I did not want to turn myself into a mere profession: all I ever wanted was to be myself." - Thomas Bernhard (Gathering Evidence)

"Art altogether is nothing but a survival skill, we should never lose sight of this fact, it is, time and again, just an attempt -- an attempt that seems touching even to our intellect -- to cope with this world and its revolting aspects, which, as we know, is invariably possible only by resorting to lies and falsehoods, to hyprocrisy and self-deception, Reger said. These pictures are full of lies and falsehoods and full of hypocrisy and self-deception, there is nothing else in them if we disregard their often inspired artistry. All these pictures, moreover, are an expression of man's absolute helplessness in coping with himself and with what surrounds him all his life. That is what all these pictures express, this helplessness which, on the one hand, embarasses the intellect and, on the other hand, bewilders the same intellect and moves it to tears, Reger said." — Thomas Bernhard (Old Masters: A Comedy)

"We only control what we ultimately find ridiculous, only if we find the world and life upon it ridiculous can we get any further, there is no other, no better, method." - Thomas Bernhard (Old Masters: A Comedy)

"Everyone, he went on, speaks a language he does not understand, but which now and then is understood by others. That is enough to permit one to exist and at least to be misunderstood." — Thomas Bernhard (Gargoyles: A Novel)

Bernhard image source (1)

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