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“He is a lesser figure than X”—how it pleases an Englishman to say that! Never suspecting what basement that would put him in, a wood louse.

— Elias Canetti Das Geheimherz der Uhr [The Secret Heart of the Clock (1987)

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More quotes by Elias Canetti

His great holy books, which he does not know. They are so holy that he does not dare to open them.

Das Geheimherz der Uhr [The Secret Heart of the Clock (1987)

It amazes me how a person to whom literature means anything can take it up as an object of study.

Das Geheimherz der Uhr [The Secret Heart of the Clock (1987)

Ambition is the death of thought.

Das Geheimherz der Uhr [The Secret Heart of the Clock (1987)

He will not do death the honor of taking it into account.

Das Geheimherz der Uhr [The Secret Heart of the Clock (1987)

If one has lived long enough, there is danger of succumbing to the word “God” merely because it was always there.

Das Geheimherz der Uhr [The Secret Heart of the Clock (1987)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Elias Canetti (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.