The Hothouse Quotes

“Knurrewahn hatte viel durchgemacht; aber er war nicht weise geworden.”
― Wolfgang Koeppen, The Hothouse

“Kein Toter nützt seinem Vaterland, und die Menschen fallen bestenfalls für ldeen, die sie nicht begreifen und deren Konsequenz sie nicht übersehen. Die geschundenen Krieger auf den Schlachtfeldern, die geplagten Völker waren die Opfer zänkischer, überaus eigensinniger, rechthaberischer und gänzlich unfähiger Denker, die in ihrem verdrehten armen Kopf keine Klarheit schaffen konnten und die sich außerdem gegenseitig nicht verstanden und nicht ausstanden.”
― Wolfgang Koeppen, The Hothouse

“There were youths standing outside the cinema. They were hanging around. What were they hanging around for? They were hanging around waiting for life to begin, and the life they were waiting for didn't begin. Life didn't turn up for them outside the cinema, or if it did come and was standing next to them, they didn't see it, and the people they could see, that they later ended up sharing their lives with, they weren't the ones they were hoping to see. If they'd known it was only going to be them, they wouldn't have bothered standing around waiting.”
― Wolfgang Koeppen, The Hothouse