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Martin Walser

Martin Walser was a German writer. He became famous for describing the conflicts his anti-heroes have in his novels and stories. In 1998 he was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in Frankfurt. He was also the father of authors Johanna Walser, Theresia Walser and Alissa Walser.


“You always know more than you think you know without being aware of it. You always remember best what has hurt most.Memory is a reflex of the pain. Knowledge is the memory of the pain combined with the unconsciousness which we 'rationalize' via dreams or by means of reading literature. It is impossible to learn from someone else's experience unless we don't assume this experience as our own's, which we can achieve only by living it anew and from scratch. We can not live our lives at someone else's expense. Only life fraught with dangers and risks and lived as your own's deserves its name. Only selfish people do not live their lives as if they do not belong entirely to them. Cowardice equals a life that you refuse to live at its fullest and at its most dangerous.”
Martin Walser
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“It is only true love when you have no choice. Love is the most highly valued disease that is identified by the symptom of You-can´t-help-it.”
Martin Walser
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“One can never be as naked, as exposed, in the flesh as one becomes in the mind”
Martin Walser
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“Love is the fall in the genus (Liebe ist der Sturz in die Gattung)”
Martin Walser
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