1.
—
box 36/6
Panphlets offorints
161
Earlo Works of Arthur Schnitzler
read the section“ Tageswirren, Gang der Zeiten'' in Das Buch
der Sprüche und Bedenken (Wien, 1027, Phaidon-Verlag), not
to mention Professor Bernhardi and the journalistic comedy
Fink und Fliederbusch (Berlin, 1017), to realize fully the scorn
Schnitzler entertains for these specimens of humanity.
After thus rushing into print at the age of eighteen, six
years were to elapse before Schnitzler again published anything.
Buring these years he was absorbed in his medical studies,
taking his degree in 1885 and thereafter becoming a clinical
assistant. It goes without saying, however, that he did not
discontinue his literary efforts, except that literary work was
more of a hobby to be indulged in in leisure moments. In
1886 four aphorisms by him appeared in the Deutsche Wochen¬
schrift. The first and the second reveal his reflections on human
behavior, in this case not individual, but collective behavior.
These two aphorisms and the third were later included in Das
Buch der Sprüche und Bedenken,“ an invaluable aid to the
student of Schnitzler’s works. In his foreword to this collec¬
tion the author states that it is to be looked upon as a sort
of diary containing many statements which he no longer would
care to maintain or even write down, but that he is not pre¬
sumptuous enough to flatter himself that his last thought is
always the most sensible or his final formulation the most fe¬
licitous. In other words, this is to be considered a represen¬
In view of the early publication of three of these aphorisms,
it is interesting to note that these sayings go back, not merely
ten or twenty years, but actually more than forty years. The
final aphorism has a point of special interest for us. It reads:
Die einen leben—wie man Champagner hinunterstürzt; andere
wie man eine Suppe ißt—löffelweise, gleichgültig; viele aber
müssen ihr bißchen Leben wie Tropfen Wassers auf der schmutzi¬
gen Erde suchen—immer gebückt—immer durstig.?'
It has often been remarked of Schnitzier’s work, usually in
a censorious way, that the proletariat, that poverty, hunger,
the struggle for existence are conspicuous by their absence.
The aphorism just quoted indicates that at any rate he is fully
15 Nr. 32 and 33of“ Tageswirren, Gang der Zeiten,“ pp. 164f.; Nr. 9of" Kleine
Sprüche,“ p. 225.
een e e eeeen
110
900
110
—
box 36/6
Panphlets offorints
161
Earlo Works of Arthur Schnitzler
read the section“ Tageswirren, Gang der Zeiten'' in Das Buch
der Sprüche und Bedenken (Wien, 1027, Phaidon-Verlag), not
to mention Professor Bernhardi and the journalistic comedy
Fink und Fliederbusch (Berlin, 1017), to realize fully the scorn
Schnitzler entertains for these specimens of humanity.
After thus rushing into print at the age of eighteen, six
years were to elapse before Schnitzler again published anything.
Buring these years he was absorbed in his medical studies,
taking his degree in 1885 and thereafter becoming a clinical
assistant. It goes without saying, however, that he did not
discontinue his literary efforts, except that literary work was
more of a hobby to be indulged in in leisure moments. In
1886 four aphorisms by him appeared in the Deutsche Wochen¬
schrift. The first and the second reveal his reflections on human
behavior, in this case not individual, but collective behavior.
These two aphorisms and the third were later included in Das
Buch der Sprüche und Bedenken,“ an invaluable aid to the
student of Schnitzler’s works. In his foreword to this collec¬
tion the author states that it is to be looked upon as a sort
of diary containing many statements which he no longer would
care to maintain or even write down, but that he is not pre¬
sumptuous enough to flatter himself that his last thought is
always the most sensible or his final formulation the most fe¬
licitous. In other words, this is to be considered a represen¬
In view of the early publication of three of these aphorisms,
it is interesting to note that these sayings go back, not merely
ten or twenty years, but actually more than forty years. The
final aphorism has a point of special interest for us. It reads:
Die einen leben—wie man Champagner hinunterstürzt; andere
wie man eine Suppe ißt—löffelweise, gleichgültig; viele aber
müssen ihr bißchen Leben wie Tropfen Wassers auf der schmutzi¬
gen Erde suchen—immer gebückt—immer durstig.?'
It has often been remarked of Schnitzier’s work, usually in
a censorious way, that the proletariat, that poverty, hunger,
the struggle for existence are conspicuous by their absence.
The aphorism just quoted indicates that at any rate he is fully
15 Nr. 32 and 33of“ Tageswirren, Gang der Zeiten,“ pp. 164f.; Nr. 9of" Kleine
Sprüche,“ p. 225.
een e e eeeen
110
900
110