Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

Germany
1 Jul 1742 // 24 Feb 1799
Scientist / Writer

Quotes

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Once we know our weaknesses they cease to do us any harm
Nothing makes one old so quickly as the ever-present thought that one is growing older
Nothing can contribute more to peace of soul than the lack of any opinion whatever
Men still have to be governed by deception
Many things about our bodies would not seem to us so filthy and obscene if we did not have the idea of nobility in our heads
Man loves company, even if it is only that of a smouldering candle
Man is to be found in reason, God in the passions
Man is a masterpiece of creation if for no other reason than that, all the weight of evidence for determinism notwithstanding, he believes he has free will
Just as the performance of the vilest and most wicked deeds requires spirit and talent, so even the greatest demand a certain insensitivity which under other circumstances we would call stupidity
It is in the gift for employing all the vicissitudes of life to one's own advantage and to that of one's craft that a large part of genius consists
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays