In early times, before the floods swept across the world, there was life, albeit odd, as one can see from the fossils of mammoth bones, and there was the regime of Prince Metternich.

Nothing genuinely historical was ever lost in this country. For this reason we have two ruling parties: villains and fools.

Without a notion of the transcendental, human beings would, indeed, be animals; however, only fools can be convinced of it, and only degenerates need such a conviction.

When the theater gates open, a mob pours inside, and it is the poet's task to turn it into an audience.

To enlist the support of the people and of parliament, you only have to propose a profitable villainy.

Soon there will be nothing truly profound that is not achieved by everyone, and of the difficult things in this world only one will be left: simplicity.

It'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.