“Reality lies in the greatest enchantment you have ever experienced.””
Quotes by Hugo von Hofmannsthal
“To be modern means to like antique furniture - and youthful neurosis.””
“Words performed through music can express what language alone had exhausted””
“the activity of modern poets stands under the decree of necessity, as though they were building a pyramid, the monstruos residence of a dead King or an unborn God.””
“So las ich falsch in deinem Aug, dem tiefen?Kein heimlich Sehnen sah ich heiß dort funkeln?Es birgt zu deiner Seele keine PforteDein feuchter Blick? Die Wünsche, die dort schliefen,Wie stille Rosen in der Flut, der dunkeln,Sind, wie dein Plaudern: seellos... Worte, Worte?””
“I wanted to show that the fables and mythic tales which the ancients have handed down to us and in which painters and sculptors never cease to find mindless pleasure are the hieroglyphics of a secret, inexhaustible wisdom. I sometimes thought I felt its breath, as though coming from behind a veil.””
“The soul is never wholly assembled, except in delight.””
Hugo von Hofmannsthal was an influential Austrian writer known for his diverse contributions to literature, including poetry, drama, and opera libretti. Born into a well-off family in Vienna, he began...