Erich Fried

Erich Fried (6 May 1921 – 22 November 1988) was an Austrian poet, essayist and translator. Born in a Jewish family in Vienna, he fled with his mother to London after his father's murder by the Gestapo following the Anschluss [the annexation] with Nazi Germany. From 1952 to 1968 he worked as a political commentator for the BBC German Service. He translated works by Shakespeare, T S Eliot and Dylan Thomas. He died in Baden-Baden, Germany, in 1988 and is buried in Kensal Green cemetery, London.

Quotes

 * Do not doubt him who tells you he is afraid, but be afraid of him who tells you he has no doubts.
 * Original German text: "Zweifle nicht an dem der dir sagt er hat Angst, aber hab Angst vor dem der dir sagt, er kennt keinen Zweifel."
 * from "100 Gedichte ohne Vaterland", pub. 1978.