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Chapters (21)
  1. Cover
  2. Biographical Notes
  3. Other Books by Gregor von Rezzori
  4. Title Page
  5. INTRODUCTION
  6. THE DEATH OF MY BROTHER ABEL
  7. Dedication
  8. Chapter 1
  9. Chapter 2
  10. A
  11. Chapter 3
  12. Chapter 4
  13. B
  14. Chapter 5
  15. CAIN
  16. EDITOR’S FOREWORD
  17. INTENDED AS A PREFACE
  18. Folder C
  19. THE ICE AGE, 1947
  20. SCHWAB
  21. GISELA

as if the gods wanted to make us realize that it is not up to us to say what ought to be said, but rather that it was up to their arbitrary will to determine the time for such utterance, as if the gods wanted to force us to realize that this arbitrary will is divine in its enormous wastefulness—

for even the stupidest man, saying something that no one heeds, will sooner or later utter a basic truth, for which a Thales would envy him; something occurs at some point to even the dullest head (and then drops out again), something capable of expanding the spiritual and intellectual horizon of mankind by a good big step; in beer garden conversations, one may hear an insight that, if uttered before attentive listeners, might stamp its utterer as a genius; and in his dreams, every child surpasses Homer and Dante—

while the poor fools who feel destined to speak must earn every word in harrowings of hell until they finally reach the humble awareness that it is a matter of luck whether a crumb falls to them too from the steadily wasted and squandered opulence—

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