Marcellus Emants
Marcellus Emants was a Dutch novelist who was one of the few examples of Dutch Naturalism. He is seen as a first step towards the renewing force of the Tachtigers towards modern Dutch literature, a movement which started around the 1880s. His most well-known work is 'A Posthumous Confession', published in 1894
“Niet om onzentwil, maar omdat vader en moeder naar een aardig speelpopje verlangen, wordt een kind de levenstaak opgelegd.”
Marcellus Emants
“Only a fool can be happy. For happiness consists of two contradictory elements: contentment and pleasure. Enjoy pleasure and you have no contentment; be content and you have no pleasure. For this reason happiness is conceivable only for those who enjoy themselves without thinking that they will always want more and thus be discontented, or for those who are content without thinking that they have no pleasure. Whoever reflects can never be happy, unless he is a fanatic and thus blinded…thus exercising control over his intelligence with his feelings, instead of the other way round”
Marcellus Emants