Quotes from The Piano Teacher

“Every day, a piece of music, a short story, or a poem dies because its existence is no longer justified in our time. And things that were once considered immortal have become mortal again, no one knows them anymore. Even though they deserve to survive.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Vice is basically the love of failure.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Art and order, the relatives that refuse to relate.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“The first thing a proprietor learns, and painfully at that, is: Trust is fine, but control is better.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Sunday, the day for the language of leisure.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“most expensive originals have cheap imitations.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“No art can possibly comfort HER then, even though art is credited with so many things, especially an ability to offer solace. Sometimes, of course, art creates the suffering in the first place.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“simple people. . . . listen to music with their hearts and enjoy it more than those who are spoiled, jaded, blase.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Sicherheit erzeugt Angst vor dem Unsicheren.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“the ignorant majority, which does however possess one thing in abundance: It is raring for a fight.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Strictly speaking, there are no holidays for art; art pursues you everywhere, and that's just fine with the artist.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Manchmal scheitern wir in der Tat, und ich glaube fast, dieses prinzipielle Scheitern ist unser letztes Ziel.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Wer suchet, der findet Anstößiges, auf das er insgeheim hofft.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Her body is one big refrigerator, where Art is well stored.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Only the TV sounds are real, they are the actual events. All the people around here experience the same things at the same time, except for some loner, who switches to the educational channel.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Gleich wird sie dieses Stück ihres Lebens bei einer Freundin und bei Rindfleisch mit Fisolen repetieren, das Leben gleichsam um diese kleine Spanne des darüber Berichtens verlängern, wäre nicht die Zeit während ihrer Erzählung, die ja ihrerseits unaufhaltsam verstreicht. Und der Dame damit Raum für neues Erleben nimmt.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Der Herdeninstinkt schätzt ja überhaupt das Mittlere hoch ein. Er preist es als wertvoll. Sie glauben, sie seien stark, weil sie die Mehrheit bilden. In der mittleren Schicht gibt es keinen Schrecken, keine Furcht. Aneinanderdrängen sie sich um der Illusion von Wärme willen. Mit nichts ist man im Mittleren allein, mit sich selbst schon gar nicht.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Vorsorge ist besser als das Nachsehen zu haben.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Schein geht vor Sein [...]. Ja, die Realität ist wahrscheinlich einer der schlimmsten Irrtümer überhaupt. Lüge geht demnach vor Wahrheit [...]. Das Irreale kommt vor dem Realen. Und die Kunst gewinnt dabei an Qualität.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Halbwüchsige [...], die sich in der Welt schon abgehärtet haben, aber noch keine Verantwortung tragen, auch für ihre Körper nicht. Sie vertragen es, wenn Unten einmal Oben ist und umgekehrt.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Es gibt sicher schönere Gegenden zum Reiten, doch nirgendwo wird man von so vielen unschuldigen Familien mit unschuldigen Kindern und Hunden an der Leine bestaunt, die sagen: Jö ein Pferterl, auf dem auch sie gern reiten möchten, wofür sie eine Ohrfeige bekommen, wenn sie zu lautstark insistieren. Das können wir uns nicht leisten. Zum Ersatz wird dann der Bub oder das Mädel auf das schaukelnde Plastikpferd vom Ringelspiel gepflanzt, wo sie gellend weiterplärren. Daraus könnte das Kind etwas lernen, nämlich dass es für die meisten Dinge billige Kopien gibt, die ihm vorbehalten bleiben.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Der Künstler geht dem bitteren Schenkeldruck der Wahrheit wie dem der Regel gern aus dem Weg.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“The Ph.D is one of the chosen who know that some things can never be fathomed, no matter how hard you try. What good are explanations? There is no possibility of explaining how such a work [Mozart's Requiem, in the instance] could ever have come into being. (The same holds true for certain poems, which should not be analyzed either.)”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“She will prolong her life by the length of her story, even though time will wear on inexorably as she tells it, thus depriving her of the chance to have a new experience.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“ONA se oseća isključeno iz svega, jer je isključena iz svega. Drugi idu dalje, čak se i penju preko nje. Tako malu prepreku predstavlja ona. Putnik odlazi, ali ona ostaje, kao mastan papir od sendviča, da leži na putu, u najboljem slučaju malo vijori na vetru. Papir ne može daleko, on truli na licu mesta. To truljenje zahteva godine, godine bez promena.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“[D]amit das Kind den Weg durch Intrigen auch findet, schlägt sie an jeder Ecke Wegweiser in den Boden und Erika gleich mit, wenn diese nicht üben will.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Էրիկան նման է սաթի միջի միջատի՝ ժամանակից դուրս, տարիքից դուրս: Էրիկան պատմություն չունի, և նա ուրիշի պատմությունների մեջ չի խառնվում: Այս միջատը լիովին կորցրել է վազելու և սողալու ընդունակությունը: Էրիկան ապրում է անսահմանության կոճղակաղապարի մեջ տապակված:”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Der bequeme Fernsehstuhl breitet weit die Arme aus, leise ertönt die Signation zur Zeit im Bild, nüchtern regt sich der Nachrichtensprecher über seiner Krawatte. Auf dem Beistelltisch in beispielgebender Fülle und Buntheit eine sortierte Schüsselsammlung mit Naschereien, aus der sich die Damen abwechselnd oder zugleich bedienen. Wenn sie leer ist, wird sie sogleich nachgefüllt, es ist wie im Schlaraffenland, wo auch nichts zuende geht und nichts anfängt.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Với tâm trạng hồ hởi, Erika nói suy cho cùng bản chất của tình yêu cũng chính là cực điểm của sự tầm thường.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

“Người đàn bà có thôi thúc trao tặng tất cả tình yêu và giữ tỉ giá.”
― Elfriede Jelinek, quote from The Piano Teacher

About the author

Popular quotes

“Acceptable rules of conduct were suspended when it came to the spoon shortage. The deficit had gotten so bad that prices were all but unaffordable, and dynastic spoon succession had become a matter of considerable interest. Spoons were even postcode engraved and carried on one's person to eliminate theft, and good table manners, one of the eight pillars upon which the Collective was built, had been relaxed to allow tea to be stirred - shockingly - with the handle of a fork.”
― Jasper Fforde, quote from Shades of Grey

“If you can’t know the truth,” said Isolde, “live the most awesome lie you can think of.”
― Dan Wells, quote from Partials

“I mean, when the world comes for your children, with the knives out, it's your job to stand in the way.”
― Joe Hill, quote from Horns

“On the girl’s brown legs there were many small white scars. I was thinking, Do those scars cover the whole of you, like the stars and moons on your dress? I thought that would be pretty too, and I ask you right here please to agree with me that a scar is never ugly. That is what the scar makers want us to think. But you and I, we must make an agreement to defy them. We must see all scars a s beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, ‘I survived’.

In a few breaths’ time I will speak some sad words to you. But you must hear them as we have agreed to see scars now. Sad words are just another beauty. A sad story means the storyteller is alive. The next thing you know, something fine will happen to her, something marvellous, and then she will turn round and smile.”
― Chris Cleave, quote from Little Bee

“They really kicked me out?"
"Refunded the tuition and everything."
Julie blinked a couple of times coming to grips with this tidbit. "So what happens now?"
"I expect you'll be a bum. Homeless and jobless begging on the street for a crust of bread..."
"Kate."
"Oh, alright, I suppose if you come by the office once in a while I'll give you a sandwich. You can squat in the office on the floor when it gets too cold outside. We can even get you a little blanket to lie on...”
― Ilona Andrews, quote from Magic Slays

Interesting books

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.