Von Schiller Quotes

The joke loses everything when the joker laughs himself.

To save all we must risk all.

Keep true to the dreams of thy youth.

Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily.

I feel an army in my fist.

It is not flesh and blood, but heart which makes us fathers and sons.

If you cannot please everyone with your deeds and your art, please a few. To please many is bad.

Truth exists for the wise, beauty for the feeling heart.

When the wine goes in, strange things come out.

Man only plays when he is in the fullest sense of the word a human being, and he is only fully a human being when he plays

The iron chain and the silken cord are both equally bonds.

Our age is enlightened... How is it, then, that we still remain barbarians?

There are three lessons I would write- Three words, as with a burning pen, In tracings of eternal light, Upon the heart of men. Have hope! though clouds environ round, And gladness hides her face in scorn, Put thou the shadow from thy brow, No night but hath its morn. Have love! not love alone for one, But man as man thy brother call, And scatter like the circling sun, Thy charities on all.

Only through Beauty's morning-gate, dost thou penetrate the land of knowledge.

Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens.

On the mountains there is freedom! The world is perfect everywhere, save where man comes with his torment.

God helps the brave

Wenn ich bei dir bin, zerschmilzt meine Vernunft in einen Blick - in einen Traum von dir, wenn ich weg bin.

The concrete life of the individual is destroyed in order that the abstract idea of the whole may drag out its sorry existence.

The man of courage thinks not of himself. Help the oppressed and put thy trust in God.

Who reflects too much will accomplish little.

There is no such thing as chance; and what seems to us merest accident springs from the deepest source of destiny.

Ernst ist das Leben, heiter ist die Kunst

You could be happy without me - but not become unhappy through me. This I felt alive in me - and thereupon I built my hopes. You could give yourself to another, but none could love you more purely or more completely than I did. To none could your happiness be holier, as it was to me, and always will be. My whole existence, everything that lives within me, everything, my most precious, I devote to you, and if I try to ennoble myself, that is done, in order to become ever worthier of you, to make you ever happier.

Everlastingly chained to a single little fragment of the Whole, man himself develops into nothing but a fragment; everlastingly in his ear the monotonous sound of the wheel that he turns, he never develops the harmony of his being, and instead of putting the stamp of humanity upon his own nature, he becomes nothing more than the imprint of his occupation or of his specialized knowledge.

Der Mensch braucht wenig, und an Leben reich Ist die Natur.

Let not thy heart cling to the things which for so short a time deck out thy life. Let him who has, learn to lose, and him who is happy, familiarise himself with what may give pain.

Der Mensch spielt nur, wo er in voller Bedeutung des Wortes Mensch ist, und er ist nur da ganz Mensch, wo er spielt.

World history is the world's court

Brief is the sorrow — endless is the joy!

Nicht an die Güter hänge dein Herz, Die das Leben vergänglich zieren! Wer besitzt, der lerne verlieren, Wer im Glück ist, der lerne den Schmerz!

Gegen die Dummheit kämpfen selbst die Götter vergebens ("Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain")

هل أقوم بحشر جسدى داخل حشد محكم وأضغط على إرادتى فى جوهر القانون؟ إن ما كان مقدراً أن يحّلق عالياً كطيران النسر قد انتهى به الأمر إلى الزحف كالقوقع بفعل القانون. إن القانون لم تنشئ إنساناً عظيماً أبداً، بل إن الحرية هى التى تُنشئ العمالقة والأبطال.

Let them storm on. In fury let them rage! Firm is this castle, and beneath its ruins I will be buried ere I yield to them. —Johanna, answer me! only be mine, And I will shield thee 'gainst a world in arms.

It was civilization itself which inflicted this wound upon modern man. Once the increase of empirical knowledge, and more exact modes of thought, made sharper divisions between the sciences inevitable, and once the increasingly complex machinery of State necessitated a more rigorous separation of ranks and occupations, then the inner unity of human nature was severed too, and a disastrous conflict set its harmonious powers at variance. The intuitive and the speculative understanding now withdrew in hostility to take up positions in their respective fields, whose frontiers they now began to guard with jealous mistrust; and with this confining of our activity to a particular sphere we have given ourselves a master within, who not infrequently ends by suppressing the rest of our potentialities. While in one a riotous imagination ravages the hard-won fruits of the intellect, in another the spirit of abstraction stifles the fire at which the heart should have warmed itself and the imagination been kindled.

Oh how can we, scarce mastering our passions, expect that youth should keep itself in check?

und setzt ihr nicht das Leben ein, nie wird euch das Leben gewonnen sein

Любовта, в ръцете с прежда, и от лабиринт извежда.

Без отдих бродя час след час по тесен кръг чертан и пътя, в който бързам аз, ти би измерил с длан. Но пак най-дълъг на света е пътят в тоя кръг, а като вятъра летя, като стрела от лък.

So it has reached this pass? Obedience and fear take flight together?

Das Weib ist nicht schwach. ich will in meinem Beisein nichts von der Schwäche des [weiblichen] Geschlechts hören. Elisabeth, II, 3

REY (Frío y tranquilo al INQUISIDOR GENERAL). ¡Cardenal! Lo mío lo he hecho yo; lo vuestro, hacedlo vos.

Orang yang tidak berani berbuat apa-apa tidak boleh mengharapkan apa-apa.

Anyone taken as an individual is tolerably sensible and reasonable - as a member of a crowd, he at once becomes a blockhead. - Friedrich Von Schiller, as quoted by Bernard Baruch

Is it possible that the Pentateuch could not have been written by uninspired men? that the assistance of God was necessary to produce these books? Is it possible that Galilei ascertained the mechanical principles of 'Virtual Velocity,' the laws of falling bodies and of all motion; that Copernicus ascertained the true position of the earth and accounted for all celestial phenomena; that Kepler discovered his three laws—discoveries of such importance that the 8th of May, 1618, may be called the birth-day of modern science; that Newton gave to the world the Method of Fluxions, the Theory of Universal Gravitation, and the Decomposition of Light; that Euclid, Cavalieri, Descartes, and Leibniz, almost completed the science of mathematics; that all the discoveries in optics, hydrostatics, pneumatics and chemistry, the experiments, discoveries, and inventions of Galvani, Volta, Franklin and Morse, of Trevithick, Watt and Fulton and of all the pioneers of progress—that all this was accomplished by uninspired men, while the writer of the Pentateuch was directed and inspired by an infinite God? Is it possible that the codes of China, India, Egypt, Greece and Rome were made by man, and that the laws recorded in the Pentateuch were alone given by God? Is it possible that Æschylus and Shakespeare, Burns, and Beranger, Goethe and Schiller, and all the poets of the world, and all their wondrous tragedies and songs are but the work of men, while no intelligence except the infinite God could be the author of the Pentateuch? Is it possible that of all the books that crowd the libraries of the world, the books of science, fiction, history and song, that all save only one, have been produced by man? Is it possible that of all these, the bible only is the work of God?

When the Creator banished from his sight Frail man to dark mortality's abode, And granted him a late return to light, Only by treading reason's arduous road,— When each immortal turned his face away, She, the compassionate, alone Took up her dwelling in that house of clay, With the deserted, banished one. With drooping wing she hovers here Around her darling, near the senses' land, And on his prison-walls so drear Elysium paints with fond deceptive hand. While soft humanity still lay at rest, Within her tender arms extended, No flame was stirred by bigots' murderous zest, No guiltless blood on high ascended. The heart that she in gentle fetters binds, Views duty's slavish escort scornfully; Her path of light, though fairer far it winds, Sinks in the sun-track of morality. Those who in her chaste service still remain, No grovelling thought can tempt, no fate affright; The spiritual life, so free from stain, Freedom's sweet birthright, they receive again, Under the mystic sway of holy might.

Sagen Sie mir ein Wort und trösten mich über meine lange Entfernung von Ihnen…

Und bin ich strafbar, weil ich menschlich war?

Erhob sich nicht in meinem Parlamente Die reine Stimme der Gerechtigkeit?" "Sie ist verstummt vor der Parteien Wut.

Es gehört mehr Genie dazu, ein mittelmäßiges Kunstwerk zu würdigen, als ein vortreffliches. Schönheit und Wahrheit leuchten der menschlichen Natur in der allerersten Instanz ein; und so wie die erhabensten Sätze am Leichtesten zu verstehen sind (nur das Minutiöse ist schwer zu begreifen): so gefällt das Schöne leicht; nur das Mangelhafte und Manierirte genießt sich mit Mühe. (…) Wer also Schiller und Göthe lobt, der giebt mir dadurch noch gar nicht, wie er glaubt, den Beweis eines vorzüglichen und außerordentlichen Schönheitssinnes; wer aber mit Gellert und Kronegck hie und da zufrieden ist, der läßt mich, wenn er nur sonst in einer Rede Recht hat, vermuthen, daß er Verstand und Empfindungen, und zwar beide in einem seltenen Grade besitzt.

Ihr wißt nicht, schwache Seelen, Was ein beleidigt Mutterherz vermag. Ich liebe, wer mir gutes tut und hasse Wer mich verletzt, und ist's der eigene Sohn, Den ich geboren, desto hassenswerter.

Den schlechten Mann muß man verachten, Der nie bedacht, was er vollbringt. Das ist's ja, was den Menschen zieret, Und dazu ward ihm der Verstand, Daß er im innern Herzen spüret, Was er erschafft mit seiner Hand.

Kann ich Armeen aus der Erde stampfen? Wächst mir ein Kornfeld in der flachen Hand? Reißt mich in Stücken, reißt das Herz mir aus, Und münzet es statt Goldes! Blut hab' ich Für euch, nicht Silber hab' ich, noch Soldaten!

Freundlos war der große Weltenmeister, Fühlte Mangel - darum schuf er Geister. Sel'ge Spiegel seiner Seligkeit! Fand das höchste Wesen schon kein gleiches, Aus dem Kelch des ganzen Seelenreiches Schäumt ihm - die Unendlichkeit.

—¡Honrad la memoria de la serpiente! —dijo el hombre de la lámpara—. Le debéis la vida, tu pueblo le debe el puente por el cual las dos orillas se unen y se vivifican como pueblos. Aquellas resplandecientes gemas que están en el agua, los restos de su cuerpo sacrificado, son los pilares de este hermoso puente. Sobre ellos ella misma se edificó y sola se mantendrá.

Even the beautiful must perish! That which overcomes gods and men Moves not the armored heart of the Stygian Zeus. Only once did love come to soften the Lord of the Shadows, And just at the threshold he sternly took back his gift. Neither can Aphrodite heal the wounds of the beautiful youth That the boar had savagely torn in his delicate body. Nor can the deathless mother rescue the divine hero When, at the Scaean gate now falling, he fulfills his fate. But she ascends from the sea with all the daughters of Nereus, And she raises a plaint here for her glorious son. Behold! The gods weep, all the goddesses weep, That the beautiful perishes, that the most perfect passes away. But a lament on the lips of loved ones is glorious, For the ignoble goes down to Orcus in silence. Nänie

REY. ¿Puedes implantar para mí una nueva fe que justifique el sangriento homicidio de un hijo? INQUISIDOR GENERAL. Como expiación a la justicia eterna, murió el Hijo de Dios en la cruz. REY. ¿Sembrarás ese parecer por toda Europa? INQUISIDOR GENERAL. Tan lejos como se venere la cruz. REY. Atento contra la naturaleza... ¿también acallarás esa poderosa voz? INQUISIDOR GENERAL. Ante la fe, ninguna voz de la naturaleza tiene valor.

Sie wollen pflanzen für die Ewigkeit, Und säen Tod? Ein so erzwungnes Werk Wird seines Schöpfers Geist nicht überdauern. Dem Undank haben Sie gebaut - umsonst Den harten Kampf mit der Natur gerungen, Umsonst ein großes königliches Leben Zerstörenden Entwürfen hingeopfert. Der Mensch ist mehr, als Sie von ihm gehalten. (...) Gehn Sie Europens Königen voran. Ein Federzug von dieser Hand, und neu Erschaffen wird die Erde. Geben Sie Gedankenfreiheit. (...) Sehen Sie sich um In seiner herrlichen Natur! Auf Freiheit Ist sie gegründet - und wie reich ist sie Durch Freiheit! Er, der große Schöpfer, wirft In einen Tropfen Thau den Wurm und läßt Noch in den todten Räumen der Verwesung Die Willkür sich ergötzen - Ihre Schöpfung, Wie eng und arm! Das Rauschen eines Blattes Erschreckt den Herrn der Christenheit - Sie müssen Vor jeder Tugend zittern. Er - der Freiheit Entzückende Erscheinung nicht zu stören - Er läßt des Uebels grauenvolles Heer In seinem Weltall lieber toben - ihn, Den Künstler, wird man nicht gewahr, bescheiden Verhüllt er sich in ewige Gesetze; Die sieht der Freigeist, doch nicht ihn. Wozu Ein Gott? sagt er: die Welt ist sich genug. Und keines Christen Andacht hat ihn mehr, Als dieses Freigeists Lästerung, gepriesen. (...) Weihen Sie Dem Glück der Völker die Regentenkraft, Die - ach, so lang - des Thrones Größe nur Gewuchert hatte - stellen Sie der Menschheit Verlornen Adel wieder her. Der Bürger Sei wiederum, was er zuvor gewesen, Der Krone Zweck - ihn binde keine Pflicht, Als seiner Brüder gleich ehrwürd'ge Rechte. Wenn nun der Mensch, sich selbst zurückgegeben, Zu seines Werths Gefühl erwacht - der Freiheit Erhabne, stolze Tugenden gedeihen - Dann, Sire, wenn Sie zum glücklichsten der Welt Ihr eignes Königreich gemacht - dann ist Es Ihre Pflicht, die Welt zu unterwerfen. (Marquis von Posa; 3. Akt, 10. Szene)

Nun riskierten wir, etwas aufs Maul zu bekommen von den zahlreichen Faschos in ihren Begrüßungsgeld-Bomberjacken und von besoffenen Helmut-Kohl-Fans mit den "Allianz für Deutschland"-Plastebeuteln. Viele von ihnen riefen im Sprechchor "Wie sind stolz, Deutsche zu sein". Wir fragten uns, worauf sie denn eigentlich stolz wären. Auf die Alpen oder den Thüringer Wald? Die hatten die Natur geschaffen. Auf Goethe oder Schiller? Ja haben die Schreihälse an deren Werken etwa mitgeschrieben? Daß sie in einem deutschen Land geboren wurden, war doch purer Zufall, dafür hatten sie doch überhaupt nichts getan. Eigentlich kann man doch nur auf etwas stolz sein, das man selber geschaffen hat. Ich zum Beispiel war auf meine Depeche-Mode-Postersammlung stolz, denn dafür hatte ich echt geschuftet. Auf unsere erste Parole-Emil-Kassette war ich auch mächtig stolz, denn die hatten wir ganz alleine gebastelt. Auf Deutschland wollte ich nicht stolz sein. Das war mir viel zu abstrakt.

The pathbreaker who disdains the applause he may get from the crowd of his contemporaries does not depend on his own age's ideas. He is free to say with Schillers Marquis Posa: "This century is not ripe for my ideas; I live as a citizen of centuries to come." The genius' work too is embedded in the sequence of historical events, is conditioned by the achievements of preceding generations, and is merely a chapter in the evolution of ideas. But it adds something new and unheard of to the treasure of thoughts and may in this sense be called creative. The genuine history of mankind is the history of ideas. It is ideas that distinguish man from ali other beings. Ideas engender social institutions, political changes, technological methods of production, and ali that is called economic conditions. And in searching for their origin we inevitably come to a point at which ali that can be asserted is that a man had an idea. Whether the name of this man is known or not is of secondary importance. This is the meaning that history attaches to the notion of individuality. Ideas are the ultimate given of historical inquiry. Ali that can be said about ideas is that they carne to pass. The historian may point out how a new idea fitted into the ideas developed by earlier generations and how it may be considered a continuation of these ideas and their logical sequei.

Der Handschuh Vor seinem Löwengarten, Das Kampfspiel zu erwarten, Saß König Franz, Und um ihn die Großen der Krone, Und rings auf hohem Balkone Die Damen in schönem Kranz. Und wie er winkt mit dem Finger, Auf tut sich der weite Zwinger, Und hinein mit bedächtigem Schritt Ein Löwe tritt, Und sieht sich stumm Rings um, Mit langem Gähnen, Und schüttelt die Mähnen, Und streckt die Glieder, Und legt sich nieder. Und der König winkt wieder, Da öffnet sich behend Ein zweites Tor, Daraus rennt Mit wildem Sprunge Ein Tiger hervor, Wie der den Löwen erschaut, Brüllt er laut, Schlägt mit dem Schweif Einen furchtbaren Reif, Und recket die Zunge, Und im Kreise scheu Umgeht er den Leu Grimmig schnurrend; Drauf streckt er sich murrend Zur Seite nieder. Und der König winkt wieder, Da speit das doppelt geöffnete Haus Zwei Leoparden auf einmal aus, Die stürzen mit mutiger Kampfbegier Auf das Tigertier, Das packt sie mit seinen grimmigen Tatzen, Und der Leu mit Gebrüll Richtet sich auf, da wird’s still, Und herum im Kreis, Von Mordsucht heiß, Lagern die greulichen Katzen. Da fällt von des Altans Rand Ein Handschuh von schöner Hand Zwischen den Tiger und den Leu’n Mitten hinein. Und zu Ritter Delorges spottenderweis Wendet sich Fräulein Kunigund: »Herr Ritter, ist Eure Liebe so heiß, Wie Ihr mir’s schwört zu jeder Stund, Ei, so hebt mir den Handschuh auf.« Und der Ritter in schnellem Lauf Steigt hinab in den furchtbarn Zwinger Mit festem Schritte, Und aus der Ungeheuer Mitte Nimmt er den Handschuh mit keckem Finger. Und mit Erstaunen und mit Grauen Sehen’s die Ritter und Edelfrauen, Und gelassen bringt er den Handschuh zurück. Da schallt ihm sein Lob aus jedem Munde, Aber mit zärtlichem Liebesblick – Er verheißt ihm sein nahes Glück – Empfängt ihn Fräulein Kunigunde. Und er wirft ihr den Handschuh ins Gesicht: „Den Dank, Dame, begehr ich nicht“, Und verlässt sie zur selben Stunde.

In their eagerness to eliminate from history any reference to individuais and individual events, collectivist authors resorted to a chimerical construction, the group mind or social mind. At the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries German philologists began to study German medieval poetry, which had long since fallen into oblivion. Most of the epics they edited from old manuscripts were imitations of French works. The names of their authors—most of them knightly warriors in the service of dukes or counts—were known. These epics were not much to boast of. But there were two epics of a quite different character, genuinely original works of high literary value, far surpassing the conventional products of the courtiers: the Nibelungenlied and the Gudrun. The former is one of the great books of world literature and undoubtedly the outstanding poem Germany produced before the days of Goethe and Schiller. The names of the authors of these masterpieces were not handed down to posterity. Perhaps the poets belonged to the class of professional entertainers (Spielleute), who not only were snubbed by the nobility but had to endure mortifying legal disabilities. Perhaps they were heretical or Jewish, and the clergy was eager to make people forget them. At any rate the philologists called these two works "people's epics" (Volksepen). This term suggested to naive minds the idea that they were written not by individual authors but by the "people." The same mythical authorship was attributed to popular songs (Volkslieder) whose authors were unknown. Again in Germany, in the years following the Napoleonic wars, the problem of comprehensive legislative codification was brought up for discussion. In this controversy the historical school of jurisprudence, led by Savigny, denied the competence of any age and any persons to write legislation. Like the Volksepen and the Volkslieder, a nation s laws, they declared, are a spontaneous emanation of the Volksgeist, the nations spirit and peculiar character. Genuine laws are not arbitrarily written by legislators; they spring up and thrive organically from the Volksgeist. This Volksgeist doctrine was devised in Germany as a conscious reaction against the ideas of natural law and the "unGerman" spirit of the French Revolution. But it was further developed and elevated to the dignity of a comprehensive social doctrine by the French positivists, many of whom not only were committed to the principies of the most radical among the revolutionary leaders but aimed at completing the "unfinished revolution" by a violent overthrow of the capitalistic mode of production. Émile Durkheim and his school deal with the group mind as if it were a real phenomenon, a distinct agency, thinking and acting. As they see it, not individuais but the group is the subject of history. As a corrective of these fancies the truism must be stressed that only individuais think and act. In dealing with the thoughts and actions of individuais the historian establishes the fact that some individuais influence one another in their thinking and acting more strongly than they influence and are influenced by other individuais. He observes that cooperation and division of labor exist among some, while existing to a lesser extent or not at ali among others. He employs the term "group" to signify an aggregation of individuais who cooperate together more closely.

Here commenced a scene of horrors,” the dramatist Friedrich von Schiller later wrote, “for which history has no language, poetry no pencil.

How alarmed that same courageous Friedrich von Schiller would have been if someone had said to him, “You don’t need to honor your father. People who have done you such harm do not deserve your love or respect, even if they are your parents. The price you pay for such filial devotion is appalling, the terrible physical torments you repeatedly go through. You can free yourself of them if you no longer obey the Fourth Commandment.” What would Schiller have said to that?

Honor women: They wreathe and weave Heavenly roses into earthly life. —Johann von Schiller

Great souls suffer in silence. JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH VON SCHILLER During

Frère, j’ai vu les hommes avec leurs soucis d’abeilles et leurs projets de géants

I can demonstrate very easily that the term “genetic,” which today is the exclusive term for biological evolution, was actually coined in Germany in the eighteenth century by a man like Herder, Wieland, and Schiller, and was used in the quite modern term by Wilhelm von Humboldt long time before Darwin. The Humboldt passages are so interesting that I will even quote some. Humboldt spoke in 1836 about the fact that the definition of language can only be a genetic one, “nur eine genetische seyn,” and goes on to argue that the formation of language successively through many stages, like the origin of natural phenomena, is clearly a phenomena of evolution. All that was ready in the theory of languages thirty years before Darwin applied it to the natural sciences. Yet it had been forgotten, or at least ignored, outside the two classical instances of language, law, and I may now add economics including the market and money. And when it was reintroduced by the social Darwinists, all the parts of the explanation of the mechanism were also taken over

Poet and philosopher Johann von Schiller wrote, “He who has done his best for his own time has lived for all times.” You can do your best only if you are continually seeking to embrace positive change.