Quotes by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

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How ridiculous to ascribe the depth of a wound not to the edge but to the luster of the sword. Likewise, how ridiculous it is that we attribute the superiority it gives an opponent over us to his flashy style. I know of no glittering style which does not borrow its luster more or less from the truth. Only the truth gives true brilliance.

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It is not the truth in which he is in possession, or imagines that he is in possession, but the honest toil he gave himself to acquire it that makes a man worth, because it is not by possession, but by research that his powers increase... Possession makes you quiet, lazy, haughty.

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Disagreement, which arises only from the fact that each considers the truth from a different place, is agreement on the essentials.

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It cannot be great that is not true.

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Love that does not fear that it may attract the scorn of the loved one is small.

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Nature intended to make woman the pinnacle of her creation, but the clay proved too soft for this creation.

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You can catch a bird, but you can't make its cage a nicer place than freedom.

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Equality is the firmest ground for love.

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It is sad to enjoy alone.

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Is laughing bad? Can't you laugh while keeping your seriousness? Man keeps his reason precisely thanks to laughter.

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Successive actions as such cannot become objects of painting; it should be content with simultaneous actions or bodies which, by their position, cause the action to be presupposed.

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When we converse, we rarely prove the qualities we have, rather we reveal qualities we lack.

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Just as a compliment is rarely free of hypocrisy, so vulgarity sometimes contains a grain of truth.

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The heart full of love cannot weigh arguments.

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Hamlet's haunting can frighten everyone, whether they are believers or non-believers.

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Charming grace is beauty in motion, and therefore the painter captures it with greater difficulty than the poet.

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And waiting for joy is still called joy.

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A woman will never recognize the charm of another woman.

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A wise actor will never push his role further than necessary and to the detriment of other roles.

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The least good in man's life is wealth, and the greatest is wisdom.

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The slowest of men, if he does not lose sight of his purpose, goes faster than the aimless.

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Falling into the trap of vice out of ignorance is one thing, but consciously delving into it is quite another.

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A poison that does not have an instant effect does not become less dangerous.

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I have long considered that the palace is not the right place for a poet who has to study nature. But if luxury and etiquette turn men into machines, then it is the duty of the poet to make men out of these machines.

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The more beautiful she is, the more honest a woman must be, because only by honor can she oppose the harm that her beauty can do.

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Man is still closer to another man than to an angel.

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Painters paint with the eyes of love and must also be judged with the eyes of love.

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Good and very good things become boring if repeated every day.

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Better to tolerate an injustice than to commit it.

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What was once published becomes the eternal heritage of mankind.

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The most inveterate scoundrel will seek to justify himself and to convince others that the crime he committed is not so serious, being conditioned by necessity.

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The soldier must fight in the name of the country or for the love of something worth fighting for. To serve aimlessly, today here, tomorrow there, is to be a journeyman butcher and nothing more.

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Resist, err, err, but for God's sake think, even if crookedly, with your head.

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Shame can be appropriate at any time, but not when it comes to admitting one's own mistakes.

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The superstitions we grew up with stay with us even after we come to know them.

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To consider ourselves more or less happy than we really are is a typical error of youth.

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People who admit that they have wandered down forbidden paths cannot be unduly harsh. But it shouldn't either. Because it is not the obstacles raised by virtue in front of love that are important, but to know how to forgive the human weakness of those who left behind these obstacles and to analyze with reason the consequences arising from them.

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People are not always what they seem.

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Love must be selfless.

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Whoever does not lose his mind in certain situations means that he has nothing to lose.

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"Who wants to write about you, when nobody wants to look at you," says an old epigramist about a shameless man.

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Those who seek friends deserve to find them. He who has no friends has never looked for them.

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Which wise man does not merely imagine that he is wise?

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The beauty of the soul gives charm even to a desolate aspect, just as soul shamelessness leaves on the most attractive appearance and on the most handsome parts of the body an imprint that awakens in us an unimaginable disgust.

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When we are awesome, we are like that and unadorned.

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The dreamer often correctly determines the future, but is impatient for it to come in its time. He wants to use his powers to bring him to the present. What nature would make possible in a thousand years, he wants to see accomplished in his lifetime.

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Life is a pendulum clock whose weights are money and the pendulum is the woman.

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Nothing makes life so expressive as gestures, especially during times of emotional turmoil. Without gestures, even the most beautiful face is expressionless.

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No people in the world has been endowed with any privileged quality in relation to another people.

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Do you think Raphael would have become a genius if he had been born without hands?

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Not wanting to owe your loved one your love is unforgivable pride.

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Some people are famous and some people deserve to be famous.

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Not all who laugh at chains are free.

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He learns that the weak man, even if sometimes he does not even know it, gladly sinks into an exalted mood, only good deeds he must do.

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To indulge in pious impulses is infinitely simpler than to do good.

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A thing cannot be great if it is not true.

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What a shame that we can't draw directly with our eyes! How much is lost on the long way from the eye, through the hand, to the brush!

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How far is the actor who understands a passage, from the one who lives it!

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Fulfilling the obligations arising from friendship is somewhat more difficult than getting excited about its existence.

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Education does not give a man anything that he could not get by himself, but in this way he gets it faster and easier.

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Imagination ... resembles our deeds, and if these deeds correspond to what we call our duty, or virtue, then imagination only increases the peace and joy within us.

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The word "almost" is very useful because it can be used when people want to say and not say something at the same time.

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The biggest mistake in education is that young people are not taught to think independently.

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The wisdom of ancient people consisted in their ability to respect in all measure.

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The woman is sometimes much sharper than the man.

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Being one step away from a goal or not moving towards it at all are one and the same thing.

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Most people enjoy listening to ghost stories during the day, but in the evening, they listen to the same stories with fear.

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The highest praise for an artist is when you forget all praise by looking at his creation.

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The hero is a man who knows things more precious than life, a man who devotes his life to the service of the state and himself to the service of others.

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True living is the most problematic thing about an actor's talent. It can be present when it is not observed, and conversely, it can be assumed where it is completely absent.

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Elegant, rich, ceremonial speech is incompatible with feeling. It does not serve his authentic expression, nor can it arouse it. But the feeling is satisfied with the simplest, ordinary, even vulgar words and expressions.

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Bad people always look for darker places precisely because they are bad. And what if they hide from everyone? The conscience that accuses us is more important than the whole world.

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There are very few voices that do not become unbearable in tense situations; and swift, stormy movements are seldom noble.

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If you happen to hear about someone's gross ingratitude, first clarify all the aspects of that situation properly, and only then draw a conclusion about such a shameful reproach. True do-gooders rarely reproach anyone for their lack of gratitude, and indeed, I like to think, to the credit of these people, that they never do. And the benefactors, animated by their petty ambitions, must reproach themselves that instead of gratitude they receive the lack of it.

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Even if good advice comes from a fool, it must be put into practice by a wise one.

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If people always thought about the outcome of their actions, they would not take action.

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A swift horse may fall where a cautious donkey goes straight.

"The more beautiful a woman is, the more honest she should be because it is only through honesty that she can deal with all the evil and damage which her beauty can produce."

"Religion is true not because it was taught by the saints, but the saints taught it, because it is true."

"Until I can see that the major commandment of Christ-love your enemies-is being fulfilled, I will continue to believe that many people are not real Christians, but only pretend to be Christians."

"The merit of a man is not in the knowledge he possesses, but in the effort he made to achieve it."

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What can we say about the poets who are so happy to soar far above the intellectual abilities of the majority of readers? What else, like what the earwig once said to the lark: "You only fly so high, my friend, so that they won't hear you?"

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Art and Nature On the stage there should be only one; If art has already become nature, Nature has become artistic.

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The priest and the evil spirit keep going, One is a dog, the other is a dog.

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If war threatens, money is needed.

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The rare is hard to forget.

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The big ones need a lot of space everywhere, and if they grow densely, they crush and break each other's branches.

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People are often different than they seem. But it's rarely better.

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As the poet moves away from the specific and particular truth, the more faithfully he imitates the general truth.

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He who does not lose his mind when he sees certain things has nothing to lose.

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An artist who thinks is worth twice as much.

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What we are not afraid to lose, we have never endured and did not want to endure.

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Be happy with me! After all, it is so sad when you are happy alone.

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He who doesn't take from me when he doesn't have it and I have it, won't give it to me when I don't have it and he has it.

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Anyone who considers is only looking for a reason why it can't be.

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A person is not only alive with smoked ham and asparagus, but, what is more, a friendly conversation in writing or spoken.

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If I were an art critic, if I dared to hang the art critic's company name in front of my door, this would be the tone of my speech: mild and kind to the beginner; admiringly doubting and doubtingly admiring of the master; scary and positive with the counter, scornful with the braggart and bitterly bitter with the sycophantic.

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Fearful love sees too far.

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The word "random" is blasphemy. Nothing is accidental under the sun.

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Even the slowest, if he does not lose sight of his goal, moves faster than someone who wanders aimlessly.

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Do we need to be beautiful? To think of ourselves as beautiful is perhaps all that is needed.

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Waiting for joy is joy itself.

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Fairy tales are not just food for children.

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It is the intention that makes the size, not the donation.

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The heart is terribly fond of speaking according to the mouth. On the other hand, only the mouth is happy according to the heart, so long ago we would keep our mouths under lock and key.

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People rarely mention it, which is good; absolutely yes, what he can't stand.

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If we are beautiful, we are the most beautiful without a figure.

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It is also a great thing when a person is nothing more than just honest.

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A full heart does not consider the word.

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Similarity is the strongest bond of love.

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After all, only the painter can judge beauty.

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Don't want to look wise where we were just lucky!

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Pearl, pearl means tears.

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A better thought comes to you at night.

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The greatest of all miracles is that Real miracles Can be natural - in fact, they should be.