One has the idea of a stupid man as perfectly healthy and ordinary, and of illness as making one refined and clever and unusual. Thomas Mann cleverhealthyidea Change image and share on social
What we call National-Socialism is the poisonous perversion of ideas which have a long history in German intellectual life. Thomas Mann callgermanhistory Change image and share on social
We don't love qualities, we love persons; sometimes by reason of their defects as well as of their qualities. Thomas Mann defectloveperson Change image and share on social
A man lives not only his personal life, as an individual, but also, consciously or unconsciously, the life of his epoch and his contemporaries. Thomas Mann consciouslycontemporaryepoch Change image and share on social
Time cools, time clarifies; no mood can be maintained quite unaltered through the course of hours. Thomas Mann clarifycoolhour Change image and share on social
What a wonderful phenomenon it is, carefully considered, when the human eye, that jewel of organic structures, concentrates its moist brilliance on another human creature! Thomas Mann brilliancecarefullyconcentrate Change image and share on social
Solitude gives birth to the original in us, to beauty unfamiliar and perilous - to poetry. But also, it gives birth to the opposite: to the perverse, the illicit, the absurd. Thomas Mann absurdbeautybirth Change image and share on social
If you are possessed by an idea, you find it expressed everywhere, you even smell it. Thomas Mann expressfindidea Change image and share on social
Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunder-storm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols. Thomas Mann announcebeginbell share on social
