The surest method of being incomprehensible or, moreover, to be misunderstood is to use words in their original sense; especially words from the ancient languages.

Just as a child is really a thing that wants to become a man, so is the poem an object of nature that wants to become an object ofart.

Every form of life is in its origin not natural, but divine and human; for it must spring from love, just as there can be no reason without spirit.

Where philosophy ends, poetry must commence. There should not be a common point of view, a natural manner of thinking which standsin contrast to art and liberal education, or mere living; that is, one should not conceive of a realm of crudeness beyond the boundaries of education. Every conscious link of an organism should not perceive its limits without a feeling for its unity in relation to the whole. For example, philosophy should not only be contrasted to non-philosophy, but also to poetry.

Every complete man has his genius. True virtue is genius.

When ideas become gods, consciousness of harmony becomes devotion, humility, and hope.

What is lost in the good or excellent translation is precisely the best.