Genius differs from talent not by the amount of original thoughts, but by making the latter fertile and by positioning them properly, in other words, by integrating everything into a whole, whereas talent produces only fragments, no matter how beautiful.

Since people no longer attend church, theater remains as the only public service, and literature as the only private devotion.

The present is never poetic as it serves necessity, necessity, however, is prosaic.

The manifestation of poetry in external life is formal perfection. True sentiment grows within, and art must represent internal phenomena externally.

Since love is folly, a foolish woman is more dangerous than a wise one.

German diligence is actually endurance.

If only it were God's will that printed and written materials have as much influence on the people as the princes and their censors fear! Considering the countless good books we have, the world would have changed for the better a long time ago.