Max Frisch Quote

I have been serving up stories to some sort of public, and in these stories I have, I know, laid myself bare - to the point of non-recognition. I live, not with my own story, but just with those parts of it that I have been able to put to literary use. Whole areas are missing: my father, my brother, my sister. Last year my sister died. I was disturbed to realize that I knew so much about her and yet had written none of it. It is not even true that I have always described just myself. I have never described myself. I have only betrayed myself.

Max Frisch

I have been serving up stories to some sort of public, and in these stories I have, I know, laid myself bare - to the point of non-recognition. I live, not with my own story, but just with those parts of it that I have been able to put to literary use. Whole areas are missing: my father, my brother, my sister. Last year my sister died. I was disturbed to realize that I knew so much about her and yet had written none of it. It is not even true that I have always described just myself. I have never described myself. I have only betrayed myself.

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About Max Frisch

Max Rudolf Frisch (German: [maks ˈfʁɪʃ] ; 15 May 1911 – 4 April 1991) was a Swiss playwright and novelist. Frisch's works focused on problems of identity, individuality, responsibility, morality, and political commitment. The use of irony is a significant feature of his post-war output. Frisch was one of the founders of Gruppe Olten. He was awarded the 1965 Jerusalem Prize, the 1973 Grand Schiller Prize, and the 1986 Neustadt International Prize for Literature.