top of page
Quotes by Austrian Authors

"In theory there is a possibility of perfect happiness: To believe in the indestructible element within one, and not to strive towards it."


"Yes, America is gigantic, but a gigantic mistake."

"To restore the trust of the people, we must reform the way the government operates."


"A man should not strive to eliminate his complexes but to get into accord with them: they are legitimately what directs his conduct in the world."

"Logic is not a body of doctrine, but a mirror-image of the world. Logic is transcendental."

"Destiny smiles upon me but without making me the least bit happier."


"I am not a specialist but a general practitioner in the world of the arts."


"The intention that man should be happy is not in the plan of Creation."

"A screen actor is compensated in the knowledge that millions will see his performance at one time, where only hundreds will see it on the stage."

"Exceptions are not always the proof of the old rule; they can also be the harbinger of a new one."

"I advise everybody not to save: spend your money. Most people save all their lives and leave it to somebody else. Money is to be enjoyed."

"One victory more or less doesn't make the difference for me now."

"I am married to the theater, and the films are only my mistress."

"Beauty and fullness of tone can be achieved by having the whole orchestra play with high clarinets and a carefully selected number of piccolos."

"The fixed stars signify the angel in man. That is why man orients himself by them; and that is why women have no appreciation for the starry sky; because they have no sense of the angel in man."

"I believe with all my heart that America remains 'the great idea' that inspires the world. It is a privilege to be born here. It is an honor to become a citizen here. It is a gift to raise your family here, to vote here, and to live here."

"I live like a Hottentot. I cannot exchange one sensible word with anyone."

"I try to decorate my imagination as much as I can."

"If I belong to a tradition, it is a tradition that makes the masterpiece tell the performer what to do, and not the performer telling the piece what it should be like, or the composer what he ought to have composed."

"For my Vienna is as different from what they call Vienna now as the quick is different from the dead."


"Survival is a privilege which entails obligations. I am forever asking myself what I can do for those who have not survived."

"Resting on your laurels is as dangerous as resting when you are walking in the snow. You doze off and die in your sleep."

"When a man is treated like a beast, he says, 'After all, I'm human.' When he behaves like a beast, he says 'After all, I'm only human.'"

"I'm sure Putnam is right that there's been a decline in certain kinds of organizations like bowling leagues. But people participate in communities in other ways."

"This time, I took it easier. I stood up before it so as not to crash again."

"The world resembles a stage on which every man is playing a part."


"Challenging the meaning of life is the truest expression of the state of being human."

"If a lion could talk, we could not understand him."

"If I had my way everyone would have a psychiatrist. When the brain is sick and you must throw up, you do it by being purged in a psychiatrist's office."

"I don't keep any copy of my books around... they would embarass me. When I finish writing my books, I kick them in the belly, and have done with them."

"My wife volunteered her services as Red Cross nurse, insisting upon being sent to the front, in order to be as near me as could be, but it developed later that no nurse was allowed to go farther than the large troop hospitals far in the rear of the actual operations."


"There is no denying that Hitler and Stalin are alive today... they are waiting for us to forget, because this is what makes possible the resurrection of these two monsters."

"The new meaning of soul is creativity and mysticism. These will become the foundation of the new psychological type and with him or her will come the new civilization."

"The struggle for freedom is ultimately not resistance to autocrats or oligarchs but resistance to the despotism of public opinion."
bottom of page