Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
A virtuous name is the precious only good, for which queens and peasants' wives must contest together.
Rigor pushed too far is sure to miss its aim, however good, as the bow snaps that is bent too stiffly.
The hat is the pride of man; for he who cannot keep his hat on before kings and emperors is no free man.
It is not the mere station of life that stamps the value on us, but the manner in which we act our part.
But how is the artist to protect himself against the corruption of the age which besets him on all sides?
In the society, where people are just parts in a larger machine, individuals are unable to develop fully.
It hinders the creative work of the mind if the intellect examines too closely the ideas as they pour in.
Doch zittre vor der langsamen, Der stillen Macht der Zeit. Yet tremble at the slow, silent power of time.
On the mountains there is freedom! The world is perfect everywhere, Save where man comes with his torment.
Men show no mercy and expect no mercy, when honor calls, or when they fight for their idols or their gods.
If thou art something bring thy soul and interchange with mine. - Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller.
Utility is the great idol of the age, to which all powers must do service and all talents swear allegiance.
The dignity of man into your hands is given; Oh, keep it well, with you it sinks or lifts itself to heaven.
The great happiness of life, I find, after all, to consist in the regular discharge of some mechanical duty.
If you would attain to your highest, go look upon a flower;what the flower does willessly, that do willingly.
Secrecy is for the happy,--misery, hopeless misery, needs no veil; under a thousand suns it dares act openly.
Deeper meaning resides in the fairy tales told to me in my childhood than in the truth that is taught by life.
No doubt the artist is the child of his time; but woe to him if he is also its disciple, or even its favorite.
If you wish to know yourself observe how others act. If you wish to understand others look into your own heart.
Man only plays when in the full meaning of the word he is a man, and he is only completely a man when he plays.
Revenge is barren of itself: it is the dreadful food it feeds on; its delight is murder, and its end is despair.
There is no such thing as chance; and what seem to us merest accident springs from the deepest source of destiny.
Whoever fails to turn aside the ills of life by prudent forethought, must submit to fulfill the course of destiny.
What reason, like the careful ant, draws laboriously together, the wind of accident sometimes collects in a moment.
Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily.
Individual character is in the right that is in strict consistence with itself. Self-contradiction is the only wrong.
Man, one may say, was never in such a completely animal condition; but he has, on the other hand, never escaped from it.
Wouldst thou know thyself, observe the actions of others. Wouldst thou other men know, look thou within thine own heart.
Of all the possessions of this life fame is the noblest; when the body has sunk into the dust the great name still lives.
Dear is my friend--yet from my foe, as from my friend, comes good: My friend shows what I can do, and my foe what I should.
Anyone taken as an individual is tolerably sensible and reasonable - as a member of a crowd, he at once becomes a blockhead.
Have Love. Not love alone for one, but man as man they brother call; and scatter like the circling sun thy charities on all.
It is well for a man when he has learned to endure what he cannot change, and to give up with dignity what he cannot retain.
Ah, to that far distant strand Bridge there was not to convey, Not a bark was near at hand, Yet true love soon found the way.
Soon is the struggle past, and to the earth, To the eternal sun, I render back These atoms, joined in me for pain and pleasure.
If you want to study yourself, look into the hearts of other people. If you want to study other people, look into your own heart.
O'er Ocean, with a thousand masts, sails forth the stripling bold- One boat, hard rescued from the deep, draws into port the old!
There are occasions when the general belief of the people, even though it be groundless, works its effect as sure as truth itself.
Courage, ne'er by sorrow broken! Aid where tears of virtue flow; Faith to keep each promise spoken! Truth alike to friend and foe!
He, that noble prize possessing He that boasts a friend that's true, He whom woman's love is blessing, Let him join the chorus too!
I speak with the Eternal through the instrument of nature, through the world's history: I read the soul of the artist in his Apollo.
Joy, in Nature's wide dominion, Mightiest cause of all is found; And 'tis joy that moves the pinion When the wheel of time goes round.
As freely as the firmament embraces the world, or the sun pours forth impartially his beams, so mercy must encircle both friend and foe.
Most gladly would I give the blood-stained laurel for the first violet which March brings us, the fragrant pledge of the new-fledged year.
Yet have I ever heard it said that spies and tale-bearers have done more mischief in this world than poisoned bowl or the assassin's dagger.
The painter is, as to the execution of his work, a mechanic; but as to his conception and spirit and design he is hardly below even the poet.
Satisfied if they themselves can escape from the hard labour of thought, they willingly abandon to others the guardianship of their thoughts.
Have Hope. Though clouds environs now, And gladness hides her face in scorn, Put thou the shadow from thy brow, - No night but hath its morn.
It is criminal to steal a purse, daring to steal a fortune, a mark of greatness to steal a crown. The blame diminishes as the guilt increases.
Whatever lives, lives to die in sorrow. We engage our hearts, and grasp after the things of this world, only to undergo the pang of losing them.