Lending to the Lender

While most of us probably avoid borrowing money, there are cases in which people actually enjoy borrowing from other people. For instance, the Austrian poet Peter Altenberg loved to borrow money from other people, even while maintaining a healthy bank account.

A friend of his, the poet and critic Karl Kraus tells a story of how Altenberg pleaded over and over again to borrow a hundred kronen, and, on account of his low balance himself, had to turn him down each time. At one point, Kraus got so frustrated with Altenberg that he shouted, “Look, Peter, I’d gladly give it to you, but I…