The subject of history is the gradual realization of all that is practically necessary.

Nothing is more witty and grotesque than ancient mythology and Christianity; that is because they are so mystical.

An aphorism ought to be entirely isolated from the surrounding world like a little work of art and complete in itself like a hedgehog.

Genius is, to be sure, not a matter of arbitrariness, but rather of freedom, just as wit, love, and faith, which once shall become arts and disciplines. We should demand genius from everybody, without, however, expecting it.

From what the moderns want, we must learn what poetry should become; from what the ancients did, what poetry must be.

A critic is a reader who ruminates. Thus, he should have more than one stomach.

The life and vigor of poetry consists of the fact that it steps out of itself, tears out a section of religion, then withdraws into itself to assimilate it. The same is true of philosophy.