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
kings real beggar
The real beggar is indeed the true and only king.
real humility men
The true value of man is not determined by his possession, supposed or real, of Truth, but rather by his sincere exertion to get to the Truth. It is not possession of Truth by which he extends his powers and in which his ever-growing perfectability is to be found. Possession makes one passive, indolent and proud. If God were to hold all Truth concealed in his right hand, and in his left only the steady and diligent drive for Truth, albeit with the proviso that I would always and forever err in the process, and to offer me the choice, I would with all humility take the left hand.
One can drink too much, but one never drinks enough.
dream action goodness
It's easier to swoon in pious dreams Than do good actions.
giver
For the will and not the gift makes the giver.
eye perception searchers
The searcher's eye Not seldom finds more than he wished to find.
superstitions loses bigotry
The superstition in which we were brought up never loses its power over us, even after we understand it.
grateful ambition blessing
My God, grant that my bounty may be a clear and transparent river, flowing from pure charity, and uncontaminated by self-love, ambition, or interest. Thanks are due not to me, but Thee, from whom all I possess is derived. And what are the paltry gifts for which my neighbor forgets to thank me, compared with the immense blessings for which I have so often forgotten to be grateful to Thee!
hair forever devil
Let the devil catch you but by a single hair, and you are his forever.
education men race
What education is to the individual man, revelation is to the human race. Education is revelation coming to the individual man, and revelation is education that has come, and is still coming to the human race.
lending begging borrowing
I, who ne'erWent for myself a begging, go a borrowing,And that for others. Borrowing's much the sameAs begging; just as lending upon usuryIs much the same as thieving.
school men understanding
Why should not every individual man have existed more than once upon this world? Why should I not come back as often as I am capable of acquiring fresh knowledge? Is this hypothesis so laughable merely because it is the oldest? Because the human understanding, before the sophistries of the schools had dissipated and debilitated it, lighted upon it at once?
mistrust suspicion
Suspicion follows close on mistrust.
world lost glorious
They make glorious shipwreck who are lost in seeking worlds.