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Thomas Mann: “Nichts gleicht meinem Glücke” - (Nothing compares to my fortune)
The phrase “Nichts gleicht meinem Glücke” concludes a rather sarcastic article by Thomas Mann on himself published in a magazine in 1907 where he ironically describes his unexpected and sudden rise from a nobody in literature to a widely acclaimed and adored writer. The article ends with the phrase: “Glanz umgibt mich - Nichts gleicht meinem Glücke. Translated: “Shine surrounds me - Nothing compares to my fortune”. Thomas Mann is actually known for his difficult approach to the term “Fortune”. In his understanding Fortune has always also a strong dark side, turning this phrase - in an ironic twist - into an ambivalent answer to Wotan’s famous rhetorical question in Wagner’s Nibelungen.
“Nichts gleicht meinem Glücke” was commissioned in 2007 by a banker who recently rebuilt the Thomas-Mann-House in Munich.