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.
Franz GrillparzerThe sun of a prince's good graces resembles that in the skies in that it shines most kindly upon the blackest people.
Franz GrillparzerWhat a pathetic creature is man! His senses are awakened by the hope for the very thing whose consummation puts him to sleep.
Franz GrillparzerJust as the queen bee, the highest-ranking, peerless creature of her hive, is surrounded by lowly drones to please her, whereas the workers produce honey, the same way is the one who sits on the throne an equal only to himself, and no one's companion.
Franz GrillparzerFinally and long overdue, your people, oppressed and disgraced by hatred and maliciousness, have achieved justice: now you enjoy full citizen's rights, but you'll remain Jews nonetheless.
Franz GrillparzerIt is open to question whether the highly individualized characters we find in Shakespeare are perhaps not detrimental to the dramatic effect. The human being disappears to the same degree as the individual emerges.
Franz GrillparzerThe graceful flowers of innocence are more valuable than the laurel crown of fame.
Franz GrillparzerPerhaps the most embarrassing experience is being caught at a lie by a simpleton who sneers at our asinine cleverness.
Franz GrillparzerRecently, the Germans have developed a tendency to prefer the so-called first (youthful) style of great artists to their mature works. Could it be that they do not realize that their aesthetic criteria, generally speaking, are juvenile?
Franz GrillparzerNorth and West have always vied for power and territory, but their recent competition as to which one is more insidious of the twohas been more peaceful.
Franz GrillparzerMuch as I honor the wisdom of the princess--there is something more dashing about a man.
Franz GrillparzerA tailor can adapt to any medium, be it poetry, be it criticism. As a poet, he can mend, and with the scissors of criticism he candivide.
Franz GrillparzerIt's the misfortune of German authors that not a single one of them dares to expose his true character. Everyone thinks that he has to be better than he is.
Franz GrillparzerRight and proof are two crutches for everything bent and crooked that limps along.
Franz GrillparzerA heart that overflows may seek out merrymaking and boisterous festivities to quietly rejoice, unnoticed amidst the reveling crowds.
Franz GrillparzerOnly by himself, with one acre and a house, will a dunce be a dunce. Once he manages to gain power, he'll turn into a scoundrel.
Franz GrillparzerI would love to be able to write a tragedy in my imagination--it would turn into a masterpiece.
Franz GrillparzerWhat are the characteristics of today's world so that one may recognize it by them?" It pays pensions and borrows money: credit and monuments.
Franz GrillparzerSwear words and profanities are mere abbreviations of speech, similar to the abbreviations in writing.
Franz GrillparzerBunglers 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.
Franz GrillparzerThe most irascible person is most likely to become apathetic in dangerous situations.
Franz GrillparzerProfundity easily turns into dullness and astuteness deteriorates into wit. Be guided by natural common sense and it will accommodate great and small.
Franz GrillparzerThe ideas of an age are most abundant where they are not crowded by original ideas.
Franz GrillparzerWhoever considers morality the main objective of human existence, seems to me like a person who defines the purpose of a clock asnot going wrong. The first objective for a clock, is, however, that it does run; not going wrong is an additional regulative function. If not a watch's greatest accomplishment were not going wrong, unwound watches might be the best.
Franz GrillparzerAn uprising would punish only the country, and that is out of the question. But there is yet another approach, the most effectiveform of resistance: contemptuous compliance.
Franz GrillparzerThe courts used to be, fair and square, the avengers of secular crimes; but nowadays they demand respect even for the criminal.
Franz GrillparzerDo hurry and proclaim the concordat. Then castrate yourselves to keep from sinning.
Franz GrillparzerWhy does the past look so enticing to us? For the same reason why from a distance a meadow with flowers looks like a flower bed.
Franz GrillparzerA pious woman's neighbor, a philanthropist's child, a liberal's servant--these three have a hard life.
Franz GrillparzerCritics are reprimanded when they get sarcastic. How absurd! Is the torch of criticism supposed to shine without burning?
Franz GrillparzerThe ramparts of Vienna are crumbling into the sand; no one wants to live so confined, however, the entire country is already surrounded by a Chinese wall!
Franz GrillparzerThe military and the clergy cause us much annoyance; the clergy and the military, they empty our wallets and rob our intelligence.
Franz GrillparzerA man may welcome his beloved with circumstance, but a woman's love and her concern for his well-being are discreet.
Franz GrillparzerIsn't it awful that cold feet make for a cold imagination and that a pair of woollen socks induce good thoughts!
Franz GrillparzerDo you think that it is possible to have a mere taste of commonness? Either one hates it or makes common cause with it.
Franz GrillparzerChristianity is the religion of melancholy and hypochondria. Islam, on the other hand, promotes apathy, and Judaism instills its adherents with a certain choleric vehemence, the heathen Greeks may well be called happy optimists.
Franz Grillparzer