To receive applause for works which do not demand all our powers hinders our advance towards a perfecting of our spirit. It usually means that thereafter we stand still.

Quote by Georg C Lichtenberg

Topics: Georg C Lichtenberg Quotes

The Greeks possessed a knowledge of human nature we seem hardly able to attain to...

The Greeks possessed a knowledge of human nature we seem hardly able to attain to...

Just as the performance of the vilest and most wicked deeds requires spirit and talent,...

Just as the performance of the vilest and most wicked deeds requires spirit and talent,...

There are people who possess not so much genius as a certain talent for perceiving...

There are people who possess not so much genius as a certain talent for perceiving...

He who is in love with himself has at least this advantage - he won't...

He who is in love with himself has at least this advantage - he won't...

Prejudices are so to speak the mechanical instincts of men: through their prejudices they do...

Prejudices are so to speak the mechanical instincts of men: through their prejudices they do...

One must judge men not by their opinions, but by what their opinions have made...

One must judge men not by their opinions, but by what their opinions have made...

I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say...

I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say...

Nothing can contribute more to peace of soul than the lack of any opinion whatever.

Nothing can contribute more to peace of soul than the lack of any opinion whatever.

He who says he hates every kind of flattery, and says it in earnest, certainly...

He who says he hates every kind of flattery, and says it in earnest, certainly...

What is called an acute knowledge of human nature is mostly nothing but the observer's...

What is called an acute knowledge of human nature is mostly nothing but the observer's...

Delight at having understood a very abstract and obscure system leads most people to believe...

Delight at having understood a very abstract and obscure system leads most people to believe...

Erudition can produce foliage without bearing fruit.

Erudition can produce foliage without bearing fruit.

With a pen in my hand I have successfully stormed bulwarks from which others armed...

With a pen in my hand I have successfully stormed bulwarks from which others armed...

We are obliged to regard many of our original minds as crazy at least until...

We are obliged to regard many of our original minds as crazy at least until...

Man is a masterpiece of creation if for no other reason than that, all the...

Man is a masterpiece of creation if for no other reason than that, all the...

Eveyone is a genius at least once a year. A real genius has his original...

Eveyone is a genius at least once a year. A real genius has his original...

That man is the noblest creature may also be inferred from the fact that no...

That man is the noblest creature may also be inferred from the fact that no...

Here take back the stuff that I am, nature, knead it back into the dough...

Here take back the stuff that I am, nature, knead it back into the dough...

Just as we outgrow a pair of trousers, we outgrow acquaintances, libraries, principles, etc., at...

Just as we outgrow a pair of trousers, we outgrow acquaintances, libraries, principles, etc., at...

The most perfect ape cannot draw an ape; only man can do that; but, likewise,...

The most perfect ape cannot draw an ape; only man can do that; but, likewise,...