Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

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

Quotes

<< Prev Next >>

I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better
I am convinced we do not only love ourselves in others but hate ourselves in others too
He who says he hates every kind of flattery, and says it in earnest, certainly does not yet know every kind of flattery
He who is in love with himself has at least this advantage - he won't encounter many rivals
God created man in His own image, says the Bible; philosophers reverse the process: they create God in theirs
Every man has his moral backside which he refrains from showing unless he has to and keeps covered as long as possible with the trousers of decorum
Even truth needs to be clad in new garments if it is to appeal to a new age
Erudition can produce foliage without bearing fruit
Doubt must be no more than vigilance, otherwise it can become dangerous
Delight at having understood a very abstract and obscure system leads most people to believe in the truth of what it demonstrates
<< Prev Next >>
Search

 

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