"Every man has a rainy corner of his life whence comes foul weather which follows him"
About this Quote
Everyone carries a private storm system, Jean Paul suggests, and it is less about bad luck than about internal climate. The phrase "rainy corner" is brilliantly domestic: not a thundercloud on the horizon, not fate striking from above, but a tucked-away nook inside an ordinary life. It implies neglect as much as inevitability. Corners collect damp, dust, and things you meant to deal with later. His metaphor turns suffering into something half-hidden, half-maintained by habit.
The subtext is quietly accusatory. "Whence comes foul weather" frames misery as an origin point, a source you can trace back to a specific interior space. The "follows him" clause lands the cynicism: you can move cities, change jobs, marry for reinvention, but whatever you refuse to face will keep pace. It reads like an early psychological insight dressed in Romantic-era imagery, less clinical than Freud, more rueful than self-help.
Context matters here: Jean Paul wrote in a Germany shaped by war, rapid social change, and the long shadow of Enlightenment ideals colliding with Romantic introspection. His work often blends sentiment with sharp observation, and this line has that double edge. It comforts (you are not uniquely broken) while undermining the fantasy of a clean slate. The intent isn't to wallow; it's to make readers recognize their own hidden corner and, by naming it, loosen its grip.
The subtext is quietly accusatory. "Whence comes foul weather" frames misery as an origin point, a source you can trace back to a specific interior space. The "follows him" clause lands the cynicism: you can move cities, change jobs, marry for reinvention, but whatever you refuse to face will keep pace. It reads like an early psychological insight dressed in Romantic-era imagery, less clinical than Freud, more rueful than self-help.
Context matters here: Jean Paul wrote in a Germany shaped by war, rapid social change, and the long shadow of Enlightenment ideals colliding with Romantic introspection. His work often blends sentiment with sharp observation, and this line has that double edge. It comforts (you are not uniquely broken) while undermining the fantasy of a clean slate. The intent isn't to wallow; it's to make readers recognize their own hidden corner and, by naming it, loosen its grip.
Quote Details
| Topic | Tough Times |
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