Quotes from Measuring the World

Daniel Kehlmann ·  259 pages

Rating: (9.5K votes)


“That was the moment when he grasped that nobody wanted to use their minds. People wanted peace. They wanted to eat and sleep and have other people be nice to them. What they didn't want to do was think.”
― Daniel Kehlmann, quote from Measuring the World


“Whenever things were frightening, it was a good idea to measure them.”
― Daniel Kehlmann, quote from Measuring the World


“Inzwischen geht es ihm besser, manche Tage seien schon fieberfrei, auch die Träume, in denen er Baron Humboldt erwürge, zerhacke, erschieße, anzünde, vergifte oder unter Steinen begrabe, würden seltener.”
― Daniel Kehlmann, quote from Measuring the World


“Man hat uns früh eingeredet, dass ein Leben Publikum benötigt.”
― Daniel Kehlmann, quote from Measuring the World


“Ich habe herausgefunden, dass der Mensch bereit ist, Unbill zu erfahren, aber viel Erkenntnis entgeht ihm, weil er den Schmerz fürchtet.”
― Daniel Kehlmann, quote from Measuring the World



“Insa, cand au trecut de primele suburbii ale Berlinului si Humboldt si-a inchipuit cum Gauss a cercetat corpurile ceresti prin telescopul sau in tot acest timp - corpuri ceresti ale caror orbite pot fi descrise in formule simple -, n-a mai fost in stare sa spuna care dintre ei doi a ramas acasa si care a colindat lumea.”
― Daniel Kehlmann, quote from Measuring the World


“Den Hunde, sagte Bonpland, habe er nie leiden können.”
― Daniel Kehlmann, quote from Measuring the World


“Links, sagte Humboldt.
Wieso links, fragte Bonpland.
Also rechts, sagte Humboldt.
Aber warum rechts?
Zum Teufel, rief Humboldt, jetzt werde es ihm zu blöd.”
― Daniel Kehlmann, quote from Measuring the World


“Seltsam sei es und ungerecht, sagte Gauß, so recht ein Beispiel für die erbärmliche Zufälligkeit der Existenz, dass man in einer bestimmten Zeit geboren und ihr verhaftet sei, ob man wolle oder nicht. Es verschaffe einem einen unziemlichen Vorteil vor der Vergangenheit und mache einen zum Clown der Zukunft. [...] Sogar ein Verstand wie der seine, sagte Gauß, hätte in frühen Menschheitsaltern oder an den Ufern des Orinoko nichts zu leisten vermocht, wohingegen jeder Dummkopf in zweihundert Jahren sich über ihn lustig machen und absurden Unsinn über seine Person erfinden könne.”
― Daniel Kehlmann, quote from Measuring the World


“Gauß kam auf den Zufall zu sprechen, den Feind allen Wissens, den er immer habe besiegen wollen. Aus der Nähe betrachtet, sehe man hinter jedem Ereignis die unendliche Feinheit des Kausalgewebes. Trete man weit genug zurück, offenbarten sich die großen Muster. Freiheit und Zufall seien eine Frage der mittleren Entfernung, eine Sache des Abstands...”
― Daniel Kehlmann, quote from Measuring the World



“Aici nu există mai devreme sau mai târziu... aici există doar muncă, asta facem aici.”
― Daniel Kehlmann, quote from Measuring the World


“Seltsam sei es und ungerecht, sagte Gauß, so recht ein Beispiel für die erbärmliche Zufälligkeit der Existenz, dass man in einer bestimmten Zeit geboren und ihr verhaftet sei, ob man wolle oder nicht. Es verschaffe einem einen unziemlichen Vorteil vor der Vergangenheit und mache einen zum Clown der Zukunft.”
― Daniel Kehlmann, quote from Measuring the World


“Žena je imala tanane, prilično izvijene obrve. Haljina joj je otkrivala leđa i Gaus se pitao kako bi bilo pritisnuti usne na njih.”
― Daniel Kehlmann, quote from Measuring the World


“Man hat uns früh eingeschärft, dass ein Leben Publikum benötigt.”
― Daniel Kehlmann, quote from Measuring the World


About the author

Daniel Kehlmann
Born place: in Munich, Germany
Born date January 13, 1975
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“We have loyalty, fidelity, honor--
All three are overrated. The only chance you have to demonstrate any of them is to deny yourself something or someone you desire.”
― Kresley Cole, quote from Kiss of a Demon King


“Why?' is always the most difficult question to answer. You know where you are when someone asks you 'What's the time?' or 'When was the battle of 1066?' or 'How do these seatbelts work that go tight when you slam the brakes on, Daddy?' The answers are easy and are, respectively, 'Seven-thirty in the evening,' 'Ten-fifteen in the morning,' and 'Don't ask stupid questions.”
― Douglas Adams, quote from The Salmon of Doubt


“The rewards are worth far more than the risks.”
― Margaret Peterson Haddix, quote from Into the Gauntlet


“You know what it's like when a cart overturns in the street? Everybody you meet has witnessed it. They saw a man's leg sliced clean off. They saw a woman gasp her last. They saw the goods looted, thieves stealing from the back-end while the carter was crushed at the front. They heard a man roar out his last confession, while another whispered his last will and testament. And if all the people who say they were there had really been there, then the dregs of London would have drained to the one spot, the gaols emptied of thieves, the beds empty of whores, and all the lawyers standing on the shoulders of the butchers to get a better look.”
― Hilary Mantel, quote from Bring Up the Bodies


“The weeks before he died, Mr Mohun Biswas, a journalist of Sikkim Street, St James , Port of Spain, was sacked. He had been ill for some time. In less than a year he had spent more than nine weeks at the Colonial Hospital and convalesced at home for even longer. When the doctor advised him to take a complete rest the 'Trinidad Sentinel' had no choice. It gave Mr Biswas three months' notice and continued, up to the time of his death, to supply him every morning with a free copy of the paper.”
― V.S. Naipaul, quote from A House for Mr Biswas


Interesting books

The Faerie Queene
(14.3K)
The Faerie Queene
by Edmund Spenser
A Rose for Emily and Other Stories
(26.3K)
A Rose for Emily and...
by William Faulkner
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
(7.4K)
The Secret Life of W...
by James Thurber
A Separate Reality
(13.7K)
A Separate Reality
by Carlos Castaneda
Eat Prey Love
(11.3K)
Eat Prey Love
by Kerrelyn Sparks
The Walking Dead, Vol. 5: The Best Defense
(21.2K)
The Walking Dead, Vo...
by Robert Kirkman

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.