The Germans believe that, no matter where, they can get by on knowledge alone. Art, however, requires skill.

Gold is the gift of vanity and common pride, but flowers are the gift of love and friendship.

Turning popular opinion upside down does not make an original.

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.

A wise man can and should stand above his times, not so the poet, but he should be their apex.

A flutist who is moved to tears by his own performance will soon make the listeners laugh because of the sounds that he produces.

The spirit of poetry combines the profundity of the philosopher and the child's delight in bright pictures.