The old harlot, German philosophy, has finally turned into a church lady.
Man lives two lives, woe, were it otherwise! One is seized by death, the other one, his honor, remains.
I notice well that one stray step from the habitual path leads irresistibly into a new direction. Life moves forward, it never reverses its course.
Who claims that the heathen’s view of the world is incorrect? Life gives you nothing! It is ruled by false gods! Nothing remains true to you but your own self; provided you remain true to it.
As far as the arts and the sciences are concerned, the German mind appreciates most highly that which it does not understand of the latter, and that which it does not enjoy of the former.
Bunglers and pedants judge art according to genre; they approve of this and dismiss that genre, but instead of genres, the open-minded connoisseur appreciates only individual works.
The art of acting presupposes three phases: understanding a part, intuiting a part, and contemplating the essence of a part.
The Germans believe that, no matter where, they can get by on knowledge alone. Art, however, requires skill.
In Germany, a certain artistic sense is fairly common, but the artist’s sense is foreign there.
Is it true that one travels in order to know mankind? It is easier to get to know other people at home, but abroad one gets to know oneself.
Distinctly different as a child, as an adolescent, in his prime and in his old age, man considers himself as one, not because he acts, but because he knows.
I would love to be able to write a tragedy in my imagination – it would turn into a masterpiece.
Swear words and profanities are mere abbreviations of speech, similar to the abbreviations in writing.
Feeling and thinking are actually the blind man who carries the lame.
The German mind, may it live! Almost invisible as a mind, it finally manifests itself assertively as a conviction.
Isn’t it awful that cold feet make for a cold imagination and that a pair of woollen socks induce good thoughts!
How frightening it is to have reached the height of human accomplishment in art that must forever borrow from life’s abundance.
Since people no longer attend church, theater remains as the only public service, and literature as the only private devotion.
Art compares to nature like wine to the grape.
Grief, first take on shape! what is shapeless causes fear and torment but when the enemy materializes, half the victory is won.