Kromer Quotes

When I look at these stiffs by the fire, I am looking at a graveyard. There is hardly room to move between the tombstones. . . . The epitaphs are chiseled in sunken shadows on their cheeks

He too-though differently from Kromer- was a tempter; he, too, was a link to the second, the evil world with which I no longer wanted to have anything to do. I did not want to sacrifice Abel to glorify Cain, not just now when I had once more become Abel.

«Piccolo Sinclair, sta’ attento. Io dovrò andarmene. Un giorno avrai forse bisogno di me, di nuovo contro Kromer o altro. Se mi chiamerai, non verrò più così volgarmente a cavallo o col treno. Allora dovrai ascoltare te stesso, e ti accorgerai che dentro ci sarò io. » ... La medicazione fu dolorosa. Tutto ciò che mi avvenne dopo quel giorno fu doloroso. Ma talvolta, quando trovo la chiave mi sprofondo dentro di me, dove le visioni del destino dormono nello specchio buio, basta che mi chini sopra questo specchio per vedere la mia propria immagine che è in tutto uguale a lui, a lui, mio amico e guida. Demian, Hermann Hesse

I felt superior to my father! For the space of a moment I felt a certain contempt for his ignorance, his scolding on account of my wet shoes seemed petty to me. “If you only knew!” I thought, and I felt like a criminal being interrogated about a stolen bread roll whereas he could have confessed to murders. It was an ugly, repellent feeling, but it was strong and had a profound attractiveness; more than any other notion, it chained me more tightly to my secret and my guilt. Perhaps, I thought, Kromer has already gone to the police and turned me in, and storm clouds are gathering over me while I’m being treated here like a little child!