Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Gotthold Ephraim Lessingwas a German writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the development of German literature. He is widely considered by theatre historians to be the first dramaturg in his role at Abel Seyler's Hamburg National Theatre...
NationalityGerman
ProfessionCritic
Date of Birth22 January 1729
CountryGermany
race revelations individual
What education is to the individual, revelation is to the whole human race.
destiny heaven way
Resist as much as thou wilt; heaven's ways are heaven's ways.
wall order dancing
Where wildness and disorder are visible in the dance, there Satan, death and all kinds of mischief are likewise upon the floor. For this reason I could wish that the dance of death were painted on the walls of all ball-rooms in order to warn the dancers, not by the levity of their deportment, to provoke the God of righteousness to visit them with a sudden judgment.
eye men dancing
Well was it said by a man of sagacity that dancing was a sort of privileged and reputable folly, and that the best way to be convinced of this was to close the ears and judge of it by the eyes alone.
sleep sound awake
How can such deep-imprinted images sleep in us at times, till a word, a sound, awake them?
wings gold wish
I know not whether there exists such a thing as a coin stamped with a pair of pinions; but I wish this were the device which monarchs put upon their dollars and ducats, to show that riches make to themselves wings, and fly away.
truth truth-is pure
Pure truth is for God alone.
hero believe demigods
We moderns do not believe in demigods, but our smallest hero we expect to feel and act as a demigod.
pain failure adversity
Pleasures, riches, honor and joy are sure to have care, disgrace, adversity and affliction in their train. There is no pleasure without pain, no joy without sorrow. O the folly of expecting lasting felicity in a vale of tears, or a paradise in a ruined world.
believe men effort
It is not the truth that a man possesses, or believes that he possesses, but the earnest effort which he puts forward to reach the truth, which constitutes the worth of a man
begging-you lending borrowing
Borrowing is not much better than begging.
stealing lending interest
To borrow scarce is better than to beg; As lending, lending upon interest, Scarce better is than stealing.
prayer command
The gift of prayer is not always at our command.
pleasure cheerfulness creator
What can the Creator see with greater pleasure than a happy creature?