Gilgi, eine von uns Quotes

“He'd be much, much more in love with the little one if he could give her nice clothes and diamonds and soft furs… that's just the way it is: the more brilliant and impressive a role you can play for someone, the more you love them.”
― Irmgard Keun, Gilgi, eine von uns

“It's our age-old hereditary sorrow that no-one can give himself absolution and God can't, either. God - this little figment of overworked imagination, God - this pallid lie born of desperation - we say God - and we mean humanity, ourselves and others. The longing for a human being is genuine - a human being is more than God - a human being is a beast and God. Longing for God - damned laziness which costs nothing. Mild, bloodless hysteria. Longing for a human being - you pay for that with your blood and with your self and with your flesh - your longing for God can be settled with promissory notes - rags -paper - a drop of red blood is worth more than three prayers.”
― Irmgard Keun, Gilgi, eine von uns

“Gilgi is drifting in the river of superfluous feelings. Superfluous? They were once, they seemed to be once. Isn't she happy? Of course she is. Often. But the hours of happiness come at a high price. The bill is presented promptly. Pay it! With what? With fear and twinges of pain. No, I don't think the price is too high, I just find the currency strange. Fear - pain! To whom should I pay them? Who profits from this odd currency?”
― Irmgard Keun, Gilgi, eine von uns

“Whatever is beautiful brings pleasure. There are some things which can’t be recognized as beautiful straightaway, you have to train a little bit first. Because you feel pleasure in the end, the training is worth it. It’s precisely the pleasures which you earn for yourself that are the most profound, the most lasting, they belong to you. And you understand, don’t you, that you can never have enough pleasures that belong to you?” Gilgi”
― Irmgard Keun, Gilgi

“Gilgi is an experienced girl. She knows men, and what they variously want and don’t want, and how this is betrayed by the tone of their voices, their expressions, and their movements. If a man and a boss like Herr Reuter speaks in an uncertain voice, he’s in love, and if he’s in love, he wants something. Sooner or later. If he doesn’t get what he wants, he’s surprised, offended, and angry. The”
― Irmgard Keun, Gilgi

“I just love him too much—and in every way, and I only have to look at him for everything else to become meaningless to me, utterly, utterly meaningless”
― Irmgard Keun, Gilgi

“There’s a great deal going on in the world, and nothing happening—precisely because so much is going on—”
― Irmgard Keun, Gilgi

“Your own toothache always hurts more than someone else’s broken leg.”
― Irmgard Keun, Gilgi

“Our own mistakes are always the ones which we hold against other people …”
― Irmgard Keun, Gilgi

“The tedium is the cornerstone of the stability of their relationship, and the fact that they have nothing to say to each other means that they feel no uneasiness about each other.”
― Irmgard Keun, Gilgi