Stories of Mr. Keuner by Bertolt Brecht

The question of whether there is a God

A man asked Mr. K. whether there is a God. Mr. K. said: "I advise you to consider whether, depending on the answer, your behavior would change. If it would not change, then we can drop the question. If it would change, then I can at least be of help to the extent that I can say, you have already decided: you need a God."

Hardships of the best

"What are you working on?" Mr. K. was asked. Mr. K. replied: "I'm having a hard time, I'm preparing my next mistake."

Serving a purpose

Mr. K. put the following questions:

"Every morning my neighbor plays music on a gramophone. Why does he play music? Because he's doing excercises, I've heard. Why is he doing excercises? Because he needs to be strong, I've heard. Why does he need to be strong? He says it's because he must defeat his enemies in the city. Why must he defeat enemies? Because he wants to eat, I've heard." After Mr. K. had heard that his neighbor played music in order to do excercises, did excercises in order to be strong, wanted to be strong in order to kill his enemies, killed his enemies in order to eat, he put his question: "Why does he eat?"

Stories of Mr. Keuner by Bertolt Brecht

Tags: books philosophy Bertolt Brecht