It is only in the morning that one should marry, read unfavourable reviews, make one's will, beat one's servants, and so forth.
E. T. A. HoffmannEvery year lays more earth upon us, which weighs us down from aerial regions, till we go under the earth at last.
E. T. A. HoffmannHuman beings ought not to draw in their antennae at every ungentle touch, like supersensitive insects.
E. T. A. HoffmannAs the priest is characterized by his cassock, so the smoker by his pipe. The way in which he holds it, raises it to his lips, and knocks out the ashes, reveals his personality, habits, passions, and even his thoughts.
E. T. A. HoffmannEverything here below beneath the sun is subject to continual change; and perhaps there is nothing which can be called more inconstant than opinion, which turns round in an everlasting circle like the wheel of fortune. He who reaps praise today is overwhelmed with biting censure tomorrow; today we trample under foot the man who tomorrow will be raised far above us.
E. T. A. Hoffmann