Elias Canetti Quotes

A collection of quotes by Elias Canetti.

Elias Canetti (1905-1994) was a Bulgarian-born writer, playwright, and novelist. Best known for his novel "Auto-da-FÃ©," Canetti's work explores themes of power, oppression, and human behavior. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1981 for his vast and thought-provoking literary contributions. Throughout his career, Canetti wrote extensively, utilizing various forms such as fiction, non-fiction, and drama. His rich and complex narratives continue to captivate readers with their profound exploration of the human psyche. Canetti's works remain influential and his literary legacy endures as a powerful depiction of the human condition.

Success is the space one occupies in the newspaper. Success

Success is the space one occupies in the newspaper. Success is one day's insolence.

People love as self-recognition what they hate as an accusat

People love as self-recognition what they hate as an accusation.

Love People Self

Success listens only to applause. To all else it is deaf.

Success listens only to applause. To all else it is deaf.

All the things one has forgotten scream for help in dreams.

All the things one has forgotten scream for help in dreams.

The self-explorer, whether he wants to or not, becomes the e

The self-explorer, whether he wants to or not, becomes the explorer of everything else. He learns to see himself, but suddenly, provided he was honest, all the rest appears, and it is as rich as he was, and, as a final crowning, richer.

One should use praise to recognize what one is not.

One should use praise to recognize what one is not.

Pessimists are not boring. Pessimists are right. Pessimists

Pessimists are not boring. Pessimists are right. Pessimists are superfluous.

A modern man has nothing to add to modernism, if only becaus

A modern man has nothing to add to modernism, if only because he has nothing to oppose it with. The well-adapted drop off the dead limb of time like lice.

Modern Modernism

One should not confuse the craving for life with endorsement

One should not confuse the craving for life with endorsement of it.

Someone who always has to lie discovers that every one of hi

Someone who always has to lie discovers that every one of his lies is true.

Deception/lying

It doesn't matter how new an idea is: what matters is how ne

It doesn't matter how new an idea is: what matters is how new it becomes.

As if one could know the good a person is capable of, when o

As if one could know the good a person is capable of, when one doesn't know the bad he might do.

The profoundest thoughts of the philosophers have something

The profoundest thoughts of the philosophers have something trickle about them. A lot disappears in order for something to suddenly appear in the palm of the hand.

There is no doubt: the study of man is just beginning, at th

There is no doubt: the study of man is just beginning, at the same time that his end is in sight.

When you write down your life, every page should contain som

When you write down your life, every page should contain something no one has ever heard about.

Whether or not God is dead: it is impossible to keep silent

Whether or not God is dead: it is impossible to keep silent about him who was there for so long.

Every decision is liberating, even if it leads to disaster.

Every decision is liberating, even if it leads to disaster. Otherwise, why do so many people walk upright and with open eyes into their misfortune?

It is important to say all the great thoughts again, without

It is important to say all the great thoughts again, without knowing that they have already been said.

The paranoiac is the exact image of the ruler. The only diff

The paranoiac is the exact image of the ruler. The only difference is their position in the world. One might even think the paranoiac the more impressive of the two because he is sufficient unto himself and cannot be shaken by failure.

There is no such thing as an ugly language. Today I hear eve

There is no such thing as an ugly language. Today I hear every language as if it were the only one, and when I hear of one that is dying, it overwhelms me as though it were the death of the earth.