Master and Doctor are my titles; for ten years now, without repose, I held my erudite recitals and led my pupils by the nose.

Few are open to conviction, but the majority of men are open to persuasion

Nothing is true, but that which is simple.

How can you come to know yourself? Never by thinking; always by doing. Try to do your duty, and you’ll know right away what you amount to.

God could cause us considerable embarrassment by revealing all the secrets of nature to us: we should not know what to do for sheer apathy and boredom.

The world is so full of simpletons and madmen, that one need not seek them in a madhouse

My peace is gone, my heart is heavy.

The world is for thousands a freak show; the images flicker past and vanish; the impressions remain flat and unconnected in the soul. Thus they are easily led by the opinions of others, are content...

The first and last thing required of genius is, love of the truth.

[Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel, supreme chief of the German armed forces, explained the thinking behind the Nazis’] Night and Fog … Efficient and enduring intimidation can only be achieved…by measures by which the relatives of...

Certain defects are necessary for the existence of individuality.

We are forced to participate in the games of life before we can possibly learn how to use the options in the rules governing them.

The connoisseur of art must be able to appreciate what is simply beautiful, but the common run of people is satisfied with ornament

Whatever necessity lays upon thee, endure; whatever she commands, do.

The greatest genius will never be worth much if he pretends to draw exclusively from his own resources.

We are the slaves of objects around us, and appear little or important according as these contract or give us room to expand.

Those are dead even for this life who hope for no other.

There is strong shadow where there is much light.

As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.

Instruction does much, but encouragement everything.”(Letter to A.F. Oeser, Nov. 9, 1768)

Ah, gençliğimin mabedi o sevgili nerelerde! Kaybolacak idiyse onu ne diye tanıdım ben?.. Kendi kendime: Çılgınsın! diyorum, artık bulunması olanaksız bir şey arıyorsun!Ama ben ona, o sevgiliye bir zamanlar sarılmıştım. Kalbinin atışlarını duymuştum. Yüce yaradılışı...

Be above it! Make the world serve your purpose, but do not serve it!

The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone.

Our friends show us what we can do; our enemies teach us what we must do.

There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From its springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior.

In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm… in the real world all rests on perseverance.

Everything is simpler than you think and at the same time more complex than you imagine

Viewed from the summit of reason, all life looks like a malignant disease and the world like a madhouse

There is no art in turning a goddess into a witch, a virgin into a whore, but the opposite operation, to give dignity to what has been scorned, to make the degraded disireable, that calls...

The decline in literature indicates a decline in the nation. The two keep pace in their downward tendency.

We are never further from what we wish than when we believe that we have what we wished for.

A judge who cannot punish, in the end associates themselves with the criminal.

Science has been seriously retarded by the study of what is not worth knowing and of what is not knowable.

The formation of one’s character ought to be everyone’s chief aim.

By nature we have no defect that could not become a strength, no strength that could not become a defect

The greater the knowledge, the greater the doubt.

Beauty is everywhere a welcome guest.

We can offer up much in the large, but to make sacrifices in little things is what we are seldom equal to

Precaution is better than cure.

The best government is that which teaches us to govern ourselves.

When he comes to the doorhe always looks mocking and half-way angry.You can see he has sympathy for nothing.It’s written on his foreheadthat he can love no one.

At the moment of commitment the entire universe conspires to assist you.

Divide and rule, the politician cries;Unite and lead, is watchword of the wise.

If any man wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul.

Du hast so viele Leben, wie du Sprachen sprichst. (You have as many lives as the number of languages you speak.)

I’ve often heard it said, a preacherMight learn, with a comedian for a teacher.

No prudent antagonist thinks light of his adversaries.

Correction does much, but encouragement does more.

Doubt can only be removed by action.

Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded.