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

A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents.

A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents.

A handful of soldiers is always better than a mouthful of arguments.

A handful of soldiers is always better than a mouthful of arguments.

If all else fails, the character of a man can be recognized by nothing so...

If all else fails, the character of a man can be recognized by nothing so...

Men still have to be governed by deception.

Men still have to be governed by deception.

We cannot remember too often that when we observe nature, and especially the ordering of...

We cannot remember too often that when we observe nature, and especially the ordering of...

There are very many people who read simply to prevent themselves from thinking.

There are very many people who read simply to prevent themselves from thinking.

If you are going to build something in the air it is always better to...

If you are going to build something in the air it is always better to...

Erudition can produce foliage without bearing fruit.

Erudition can produce foliage without bearing fruit.

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...

There exists a species of transcendental ventriloquism by means of which men can be made...

There exists a species of transcendental ventriloquism by means of which men can be made...

It is a question whether, when we break a murderer on the wheel, we do...

It is a question whether, when we break a murderer on the wheel, we do...

The sure conviction that we could if we wanted to is the reason so many...

The sure conviction that we could if we wanted to is the reason so many...

We accumulate our opinions at an age when our understanding is at its weakest.

We accumulate our opinions at an age when our understanding is at its weakest.

With most people disbelief in a thing is founded on a blind belief in some...

With most people disbelief in a thing is founded on a blind belief in some...

I am convinced we do not only love ourselves in others but hate ourselves in...

I am convinced we do not only love ourselves in others but hate ourselves in...

The pleasures of the imagination are as it were only drawings and models which are...

The pleasures of the imagination are as it were only drawings and models which are...

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...

To be content with life or to live merrily, rather all that is required is...

To be content with life or to live merrily, rather all that is required is...

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,...

Many things about our bodies would not seem to us so filthy and obscene if...

Many things about our bodies would not seem to us so filthy and obscene if...