Georg C. Lichtenberg Quotes - Page 2

Man…who lives in three places – in the past, in the present, and in the future – can be unhappy if one of these three is worthless. Religion has even added a fourth – eternity.

We have no words for speaking of wisdom to the stupid. He who understands the wise is wise already.

Erudition can produce foliage without bearing fruit.

Delicacy in woman is strength.

The greater part of human misery is caused by indolence.

One has to do something new in order to see something new.

It is strange that only extraordinary men make the discoveries, which later appear so easy and simple.

A book is a mirror: if an ape looks into it an apostle is hardly likely to look out.

The proof that man is the noblest of all creatures is that no other creature has ever denied it.

Great men too make mistakes, and many among them do it so often that one is almost tempted to call them little men.

Before we blame we should first see whether we cannot excuse.

There are two ways of extending life: firstly by moving the two points "born" and "died" farther away from one another. The other method is to go more slowly and leave the two points wherever God wills they should be, and this method is for the philosophers.

Popular presentation today is all too often that which puts the mob in a position to talk about something without understanding it.

Just as we outgrow a pair of trousers, we outgrow acquaintances, libraries, principles, etc., at times before they're worn out and times - and this is the worst of all - before we have new ones.

Man loves company - even if it is only that of a small burning candle.

There are many who believe that 'Marriage is not a word - it is a sentence!' Whether you are indeed 'married' or if you are 'single', I am sure that funny quotes on weddings and marriages always tend to put a wicked smile to the face. It is often said that 'People who are married are often desperate to get out of it and people who are single can't wait to get in!'

He who understands the wise is wise already.

I am always grieved when a man of real talent dies. The world needs such men more than Heaven does.

You believe I run after the strange because I do not know the beautiful; no, it is because you do not know the beautiful that I seek the strange.

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

To grow wiser means to learn to know better and better the faults to which this instrument with which we feel and judge can be subject.

To read means to borrow; to create out of one s readings is paying off one's debts.

The fruits of philosophy are the important thing, not the philosophy itself. When we ask the time, we don't want to know how watches are made.

What we are able to judge with feeling is very little; the rest is all prejudice and complaisance.

What we have to discover for ourselves leaves behind in our mind a pathway that can be used on another occasion.