Antal Szerb
Antal Szerb worked as a literary historian, scholar, critic, and writer, producing work in Hungarian, French, English, and German across a career that also encompassed poetry and translation.
Born on 1 May 1901 in Budapest, Szerb was a Hungarian citizen who received his early education at the Piarist Gymnasium of Budapest before continuing his studies at Eötvös Loránd University. In addition to his writing and scholarly activities, he worked as a university teacher. During his career he received two formal recognitions: the Baumgarten Prize and the Hungarian Heritage Award.
Szerb died on 27 January 1945 in Balf. The Baumgarten Prize and the Hungarian Heritage Award together mark the formal acknowledgment his work received within Hungary. He was forty-three years old at the time of his death in Balf, having worked across the roles of literary historian, literary critic, literary scholar, writer, poet, and translator.
Quotes by Antal Szerb
I really dislike the sort of people who aren’t like other people. It’s true other people are so boring. But so are the ones who aren’t like them.
The matter could in fact have been resolved quite simply if all those round the table had been equally intelligent. But in this life that is rarely given.
The nature of civilisation everywhere was such that, even with the Greeks, it diverted people’s minds away from the reality of death.
We were so intimate that it wasn’t possible to flirt or fall in love with one another. For love, there has to be a distance across which the lovers can approach one another. The approach is of course an illusion, because love in fact separate people. Love is a polarity. Two lovers are the two oppositely charged poles of the universe.
We carry within ourselves the direction our lives will take. Within ourselves burn the timeless, fateful stars.
