28+ Patrick Süskind Quotes (Dark, Surreal And Poignant)

Patrick Süskind is a German novelist and playwright. He is best known for his 1985 novel Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, which has been adapted into a feature film. He also wrote the play The Double Bass, which was adapted into a film in 1981.

Top 10 Patrick Süskind Quotes

1. ...talent means nothing, while experience, acquired in humility and with hard work, means everything.
2. Not a visible enthusiasm but a hidden one, an excitement burning with a cold flame.
3. She was indeed a girl of exquisite beauty. She was one of those languid women made of dark honey smooth and sweet and terribly sticky.
4. He was not bound. No one led him by the arm. He got out of the carriage as if he were a free man.
5. There comes a time in every man's life when he needs his own toilet.
6. When they finally did dare it, at first with stolen glances and then candid ones, they had to smile. They were uncommonly proud. For the first time they had done something out of Love.
7. He who ruled scent ruled the hearts of men.
8. He realized that all his life he had been a nobody to everyone. What he now felt was the fear of his own oblivion. It was as though he did not exist.
9. He had preserved the best part of her and made it his own: the principle of her scent.
10. It was good, really, that this external world still existed, if only as a place of refuge.

Patrick Süskind Short Quotes

• How quickly the apparently solidly laid foundation of one's existence could crumble.
• As long as I don't have an idea, I won't write anything.
• He decided in favor of life out of sheer spite and malice.
• People left him alone. And that was all he wanted.

Patrick Süskind Famous Quotes And Sayings

Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it. — Patrick Süskind

And finally - he was neither able nor willing to prevent it - the self-loathing dammed up inside him spilled over and gushed out, gushed out of glaring eyes that grew ever grimmer, angrier, beneath the rim of his cap, flooding the outside world as perfect, vulgar hate. — Patrick Süskind

Bathed in sweat and trembling with agitation, no, not with agitation, but with fear, for he finally admitted it to himself: it was naked fear that had seized him, and in admitting it he grew calmer and his thoughts clearer. — Patrick Süskind

And suddenly solitude fell across his heart like a dusty reflection. He closed his eyes. The dark doors within him opened and he entered. The next performance in the theater of Grenouille's soul was beginning. — Patrick Süskind

This perfume was not like any perfume known before. It was not a scent that made things smell better... it was completely new, capable of creating a whole world, a magical, rich world, and in an instant you forgot all the loathsomeness around you and felt so rich, so at ease, so free, so fine. — Patrick Süskind

No human being can go on living in the same house with a pigeon, a pigeon is the epitomy of chaos and anarchy, a pigeon that whizzes around unpredictably, that sets it's claws in you, picks at your eyes. — Patrick Süskind

He succeeded in being considered totally uninteresting. People left him alone. And that was all he wanted. — Patrick Süskind

Very well, but remember this... I'll be looking at you when you're laid on the cross and the twelve blows are crashing down on your limbs. When the crowd is finally tired of your screams and wandered home, I will climb up through your blood and sit beside you. I will look deep into your eyes... and drop by drop I will trickle my disgust into them like burning acid until... finally... you perish. — Patrick Süskind

He had withdrawn solely for his own personal pleasure, only to be near to himself. No longer distracted by anything external, he basked in his own existence and found it splendid. — Patrick Süskind

He possessed the power. He held it in his hand. A power stronger than the power of money or the power of terror or the power of death: the invincible power to command the love of mankind. There was only one thing that power could not do: it could not make him able to smell himself. — Patrick Süskind

He had escaped the abhorrent taint! He was truly completely alone! He was the only human being in the world! — Patrick Süskind

And because people are stupid and use their noses only for blowing, but believe absolutely anything they see with their eyes, they will say it is because this is a girl with beauty and grace and charm. — Patrick Süskind

With one glance he had got himself trapped in the brown fundament of her eyes, he was in danger of sinking, as if into a soft, brown swamp, and he had to close his own eyes for a second to get out of it. — Patrick Süskind

...he came to the conclusion that you cannot depend on people, and that you can live in peace only if you keep them at arm's length. — Patrick Süskind

Life Lessons by Patrick Süskind

1. Patrick Süskind's work emphasizes the importance of understanding the human condition and appreciating the beauty in life's small details.
2. He encourages readers to look beyond the surface of things and to think deeply about the motivations of others.
3. His work also highlights the power of the written word and the potential of storytelling to connect people to one another and to evoke powerful emotions.