Recently, 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?

How great seems human progress when we consider where it began, and how insignificant, when we contemplate the goals for which itstrives.

Morality, a muzzle for the will; logic, a climbing iron for the mind.

Drink and be thankful to the host! What seems insignificant when you have it, is important when you need it.

I understand the phrase "Honor the Women" all too well: the poet has probably a wife of his own, but he prefers to honor another.

The ideas of an age are most abundant where they are not crowded by original ideas.

Ideas are not thoughts; the thought respects the boundaries that the idea ignores thereby failing to realize itself.