Jean Paul
Jean Paul
Jean Paul, born Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, was a German Romantic writer, best known for his humorous novels and stories...
NationalityGerman
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth21 March 1763
CountryGermany
peace war politics
When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.
responsibility views doubt
All I want is' - and he uttered the final words through clenched teeth and with a sort of shame - 'to retain my freedom.' I should myself have thought,' said Jacques, 'that freedom consisted in frankly confronting situations into which one had deliberately entered, and accepting all one's responsibilities. But that, no doubt, is not your view.
fate principles action
All human actions are equivalent... and all are on principle doomed to failure.
dream men reality
In life man commits himself and draws his own portrait, outside of which there is nothing. No doubt this thought may seem harsh to someone who has not made a success of his life. But on the other hand, it helps people to understand that reality alone counts, and that dreams, expectations and hopes only serve to define a man as a broken dream, aborted hopes, and futile expectations.
lying heart worms
Nothingness lies coiled in the heart of being - like a worm.
monday hero adventure
But for me there is neither Monday nor Sunday: there are days which pass in disorder, and then, sudden lightning like this one. Nothing has changed and yet everything is different. I can't describe it, it's like the Nausea and yet it's just the opposite: at last an adventure happens to me and when I question myself I see that it happens that I am myself and that I am here; I am the one who splits in the night, I am as happy as the hero of a novel.
eye ruins faces
Smooth and smiling faces everywhere, but ruin in their eyes.
I am myself and I am here.
imperfection existence
Existence is an imperfection.
age reason age-of-reason
This then is the age of reason.
stars kings flower
Let it crumble! Let the rocks revile me and flowers wilt at my coming. Your whole universe is not enough to prove me wrong. You are the king of gods, king of stones and stars, king of the waves of the sea. But you are not the king of man.
excuse remedy
Outside nature, against nature, without excuse, beyond remedy, except what remedy I find within myself.
fall night devil
Night is falling: at dusk, you must have good eyesight to be able to tell the Good Lord from the Devil.
order trying might
I wanted the moments of my life to follow and order themselves like those of a life remembered. You might as well try and catch time by the tail.