*我能保证直白坦率，却无法承诺不偏不倚。*不念恩义始终是一种弱点。我从未见过心无感激的能干之人。*我们是如此的目光短浅，总以为自己很有道理。于是可以想象，一个思维超群的人不但会犯错误，甚至还会为之欣喜。*我们很少看到仅凭温和的方式能够达到美好而正确的目的。相反，实际情况往往是迂腐导致迟滞不前，狂妄导致仓促行事。*文字和图像是相关联的，它们总在找寻彼此，就像我们在比喻与寓言中充分了解到的那样。一直以来，耳朵听到的话语或音乐，同样也会浮现在眼前。所以当我们还是小孩子时，在法典和上帝的施恩书中、在《圣经》和插图课本中，总能看到文字和图片均衡分布。说出无法用图像描绘的事物，或者画出无法用语言阐明的东西，这是完全合理的。然而人们经常错误地认识两者的关系，明明该使用图像，却要用语言表述，从而诞生了象征意义上加倍邪恶的神秘怪物。*任何投身于科学研究的人，都会先后受困于外界的阻挠与关注。人们一开始不愿承认我们研究成果的价值，而后又装模作样，好像已经知晓我们将会研究出什么成果。*一本逸事和格言汇编对于老于世故的人们来说价值连城，前提是他知道如何恰当地在对话中穿插前者，在合适的情景下想起后者。*人们说：“艺术家们，研究自然吧！”然而从平凡中提炼高贵、用畸形锻造美丽，并非小事。*失去判断，也就失去了记忆。*世界是一座有裂缝的钟，只会吱嘎作响，不能鸣声报时。*人们一定要善意地容忍青年业余爱好者的鲁莽冒失，因为待到日后年岁稍长，他们会成为艺术和大师们最忠实的拥趸。*对于坏到骨子里的恶人而言，幸灾乐祸是他们唯一的乐趣。 *聪慧之人永远是最好的百科全书。*有些人从不犯错，因为他们从不做理性的事。*当我认识到我与自身、我与外部世界的关系时，我就称其为真理。如此一来，人人都有一个属于自己的真理，而且它永远不会改变。*特殊总会被普遍打败，而普遍总要让自己适应特殊。*没有人能主宰真正的创造力，只能任由它天马行空，自由发挥。*无论是谁，只要大自然开始向他揭示其公开的奥秘，他就会不可抗拒地向往自然最高贵的诠释者——艺术。*时间本身就是一种元素。*一个人永远无法知道，自己被赋予了多少人性。*对于理解毫无助益的差别，就不是差别。*显花植物 [1] 中仍然保留着许多隐花植物 [2] 的性状，即使用数百年的时间也不足以破解其中的奥秘。*混淆两个辅音，可能是因为发音器官不够灵活；而混淆单元音和双元音，则是因为自负而头脑发热。*一个人如果打算学习全部的法律，那么就根本不会有时间去触犯法律。*人不能为所有人而活，尤其不能为那些自己不愿与之相处的人而活。*对于后世的召唤来源于一种纯粹的生动感受，即确有永恒不朽的存在，即便不能立时得到认可，但必将为小众所喜爱，最终受到大众的追捧。*秘密还不是奇迹。*演员们俘获观众的心，却不会付出真情，他们是优雅的骗子。*草率而狂热地追捧有问题的天才，是我早年犯过的错误，而我永远也无法彻底摆脱它。*我愿与你坦诚相待，不想一拍两散，然而却无法做到。你行为不端，脚踩两只船，不仅没有吸引来追求者，还失去了自己的朋友。这该如何收场啊！*无论身居高位，还是出身卑微，人人都始终要为自己的人性买单。*自由作家如今炙手可热，全体公众都拜倒在他们脚下。*每当我听到人们谈论自由的创意想法时，都惊讶于人们竟如此热衷那些空洞无物的言论：一个想法是不可能自由的！它是强劲有力、自成一体的，如此便完成了上帝交付与它的神圣使命——富有创造力。相比而言，一个概念就更加不自由，因为它被赋予了另一个完全不同的使命。*然而，若要找寻自由的踪迹，那么就必须观察人们的态度，态度是有生命力的情绪。*但是态度很少是自由的，因为它直接来源于人本身，来源于人身边最亲近的关系和他的需求。*我们就此搁笔。我们应该以此为标准，衡量每天所听到的言论！*（面对自然，）我们一直以来只能利用自己的眼睛和想象事物的方式来加以探索。而自然本身就知道它现在想要什么，它曾经想要什么。告诉我，你所在的地方！——阿基米德去开发，你所在的地方！——诺泽 [3]去说明，你所在的地方！——歌德*事物的旁观者总在竭力找寻普适的因果关系，并把所有类似的现象都归结于某一个共同的诱因，却很少考虑最直接的缘由。*聪明之人不会遭遇微小的蠢事。*任何一件艺术品，无论大小，及至最微小的细节，都全部取决于创作理念。*不存在没有比喻的诗，因为诗本身就是个比喻。*一位好脾气的老考官对一名学生耳语道：“你还什么都没学到呢。[4] ”然后让他通过了考试。*卓越的事物往往深不可测，你可以用自己喜欢的方式开始接触它。*最平庸的小说也总好过平庸的读者，最差的小说也会对这一体裁做出些许贡献，使其整体精彩绝伦。*我在普遍的事物上花费了大量时间，直至我意识到优秀的人们在特殊领域取得的成就。*其实，只有当人们所知甚少时，才会以为自己了解某个事物。随着知识的积累，怀疑也会逐渐加深。*实际上，一个人的可爱之处在于他所犯下的错误。*德国人知道如何修正他人，却不知道如何施以援手。*有些人爱着自己的同类并在人群中找寻他们；有些人则爱着并追求与自己完全相反的人。*长期厌世之人必将变得凄惨可悲，比如视我们为敌的那些人就是这种情况。*妒忌与憎恶将观察者的视野限制在事物表面，哪怕他们已经具备了洞察力也无法深入。而如果借助善良与爱心的力量，就可以看穿世界和人心，如此他便可以期望达到至高境界了。*一位英国批评家称赞我拥有“全面的能力”，对此我必须致以最诚挚的感谢。*对于每一个友好的德国人而言，些许诗学天赋是有可取之处的，有了它就可以通过正确的方式，利用一定程度的尊重和不满来掩盖自己内心的真实想法，不管这是一种怎样的想法。*物质本身呈现在所有人的眼前，其内涵只有行家里手才能发掘，而其组成形式对于大多数人来说，就是一个谜。*人们偏爱生机与活力，青春又通过一颗不老的心得以实现。*我们以自己选择的方式认知世界，它总有黑白两面。*在实际生活中，人们总是一错再错，因此我们必须不厌其烦地重复说教正确的做法。*在罗马，除了全体罗马人之外，还有一群由雕像组成的民众。类似地，在我们所处的真实世界之外，还有一个几乎更加强大的幻想世界，那里居住着大多数的人。*人类就像红海：一条界线无法将他们彻底隔绝，就在界线的末端处，他们又会彼此交融。*辨别真实与虚假，区分确定与模糊，判定某件事应该受到怀疑还是谴责，这是历史学家的职责所在。*只有重视当下的人才会写出编年史。*思想一再重现，信念传播蔓延，形势一去不回。*在所有民族中，希腊人对生活的幻想最为美妙。*译者好比忙碌的皮条客，极力向我们推荐一位半遮半掩的美女，这是因为他们激起了我们对原著无法抗拒的向往。*我们乐于推崇先人，却不愿夸奖后代。只有父亲才不会嫉妒儿子的才能。*自谦不是什么难事，然而在虎落平阳的下坡路上，当你已经落后，还能承认不如你的人实则在你之上，就十分难得了。*我们的所有成就，都是舍弃自身，以求存在。*我们的所作所为都会令人倦怠，那些不知疲倦的人是幸福的！*希望是不幸之人的第二灵魂。*那些快乐地做事，并欣喜于自我成就的人，是幸福的。*人们心中同样存在着一种臣服于人的渴望，因此法国人的骑士制度实为一种“奴役” [5] 。*剧院里的视觉和听觉快感极大地限制了人们的反思。*经验可以无限延伸，而理论则不能在相同意义上净化并完善。对于前者，整个宇宙向着各个方向展开；而后者则封闭在人类能力的边界之内。因此，所有构建理论的模式都必定重现，这也解释了为什么会出现那样奇怪的现象：在丰富广博的经验中，一个狭隘的理论却能重新赢得人们青睐。*摆在我们眼前的永远是同一个世界，我们一直观察它或者猜度它。而生活在真实或虚假之中的也永远是同一批人，置身于后者的人们感到更加舒适。*真理与我们的天性相悖，谬误则不然，原因很简单：真理要求我们意识到自己的狭隘，而谬误却讨好我们，仿佛我们以某种方式脱离了局限。*自德国人“崛起” [6] 已有将近二十年的时间。一旦他们注意到了这点，他们就一定能意识到自己有多奇怪了。*相信自己可以做到曾经能够做到的事，是很自然的；而有些人相信自己可以做到自己从未做到过的事，这可能很奇怪，但并不罕见。*古往今来，对科学进步做出贡献的都是个人，而非时代自身。毒死苏格拉底也好，烧死扬·胡斯[7] 也罢，都是时代的所作所为，它是一成不变的。*真正的象征主义，用特殊表现一般，并非把普通事物演绎为梦境或幻影，而是在片刻之间生动地揭示玄妙莫测的东西。*所有理想的事物，一旦现实对其提出要求，就会将现实事物与其自身一并吞没。信贷（纸币）与白银的关系、信贷与自身的关系就是这样。*技艺精湛常被视为利己主义。*一旦优秀的作品和它们值得颂扬的美德宣告终结，新教徒的多愁善感就立马取而代之。*如果人们能够挑选出好的建议，那么仿佛他自己就已经具备完成这件事的能力了。*所有智慧之事都已经被思考过了，人们只需将它们再思考一遍。*人如何认识自我呢？思考永远不会有用，而应该通过行动认知。着手尝试履行你的义务，很快你就会发现自己是什么样的人。*不过你的义务是什么呢？是时代对你的要求。*理性世界可以被看作一个巨大的永生个体，他不停地造就必要的事物，甚至通过这种方式主宰了偶然的事物。*随着年龄增长，我愈发讨厌一些了不起的人，他们本应该约束自己的本性，从而把自己和身边人从专横的必要性中解放出来。我愈发讨厌他们出于某一个先入为主的错误概念，做着与自己愿望完全矛盾的事。最终，由于整体构想坍塌了，他只能在细节之处兀自烦恼，浪费时间。*精明能干之人，期待着吧！你有资格：从伟人身上——获得仁慈从当权者身上——获得优待从务实和善良的人身上——获得帮助从群体中——获得青睐从个体中——获得爱！*那些业余爱好者习惯在他们竭尽所能之后找借口，说作品还没完成。不言而喻，他们永远也无法完成，因为他们从未真正地开始创作。大师只需寥寥数笔，就大功告成；无论细致与否，作品都已经完成了。最聪明的门外汉在不确定中摸索，越做越怀疑自己最初的设计。直到最后，无法弥补的错误才暴露出来，这样自然无法完成作品。*真正的艺术领域中不存在预备学校，只有事先准备。最好的准备其实是让资质平庸的学生参与大师的创作。许多研磨颜料的助手最终成为伟大的画家。*另一种准备的方式是模仿，通过模仿一位化繁为简的大师，不经意地激发人们与生俱来的能力。*我们坚信艺术家研究自然的必要性和价值，然而也不否认，当意识到这种值得表扬的努力被滥用时，我们有多心痛。*我们深信，如果年轻的艺术家在研究自然的同时，不会思考如何打磨每一处细节，使其融为一体，从而转变为一幅美丽的图画，最后用画框装裱，那么他们就应该少接触甚至完全放弃对自然的研究，心甘情愿地把这份工作交给爱好者或者专家。*世界上的许多美是遗世独立的，但灵魂需要发现它们彼此之间的关联并以此创作出艺术品。花朵的魅力来源于停在它身旁的昆虫，来源于滋润它的露水，来源于为它提供养分的容器。每一丛灌木、每一棵树，都是因为周围的岩石和小溪而获得意义，都是因为一个适度的距离而增强了魅力。对于人类和所有动物而言，也是如此。*通过这种方法，年轻艺术家获得的好处是多样的。他学会了将彼此相关的事物组合在一起的最佳方式，而当他按照这种方式聪明地构思时，一定会贡献不少发明创造，一定会具备利用单一个体创造丰富整体的能力。*除了满足艺术教育的应有之义，他还取得了一个巨大的、不容忽视的优势：他学会了如何创作畅销的、在艺术爱好者看来优美而生动的画作。*这种类型的作品不必精雕细琢、尽善尽美，只要构思精巧、结构完整，它就能赢得艺术爱好者的青睐，效果甚至超过了那些更加大气磅礴、内容更为详尽的作品。*让每一个年轻艺术家都去翻看他素描本和画夹里的草稿，想想运用上面的方法，能从中创作出多少赏心悦目、备受欢迎的作品吧！*我们这里探讨的不是更高层次的艺术，当然也可以对其进行讨论。我们不过是给艺术家一个警示，让他们迷途知返，为他们指明通往高级艺术的道路。*让艺术家们实践半年，不用炭笔，不用画刷，除非他有描绘眼前自然事物或风景的强烈愿望。如果他有天赋，那么我们所暗示的目的，很快就会显现出来。*告诉我你与谁交往，那么我就能说出你是什么样的人；如果我了解你正在做什么，我就能知道你会成为什么样的人。*每个人都必须按照自己的方式思考，因为他总能依据自己的思路发现某一个或者某一类真理，令他一生受益。但他不可以放任自己的思想恣意妄为，而应该时时自我监督，赤裸裸的本能并不适合人类。*无限制的行为，无论属于哪种类型，都会让人堕落。*人造和自然的作品中，最值得注意的是创作它的目的。*人们会迷失自我，也会在与他人相处时犯错，因为他们把手段当成了目的，而后徒劳无功，甚至令人讨厌。*我们的所思、所做，都是如此完美的纯粹和美好，外界的干预只会破坏它。于是我们可以保持优势，接下来只需要把错放的东西归位，将毁掉的东西复原。*甄别不同程度的错误，并将正确的内容替换在相应的部分，是一件困难而辛苦的工作。*真理不必总以具象出现，它只要作为一种精神四处游荡，在所到之处促成和谐，那就足够了，就像钟声庄严而友善地回响在空中一样。*当我询问一些年轻的德国画家，甚至包括那些曾经旅居意大利的画家，为什么他们总要使用那样令人生厌的艳俗色调（尤其是在风景画中），为什么在画中丝毫不见和谐之美的踪迹，他们就以傲慢无礼的口吻振振有词地回答说，自己就是这样看待自然的。*康德为我们指出，存在一种理性批判，它是人类所具备的最高能力，也是人类自我反省的原因。康德的言论为我们带来了多大好处，人人都可自行查看。而我在此意义上也要提出一个观点，即一种感性批判也是必需的，如果艺术——尤其是德国艺术——还想以某种方式复苏并且以一种令人愉快的活泼步调向前进步的话。*为理性而生的人们需要接受大量的教育，这种教育会通过父母和老师的悉心照顾、通过温和的示范和严格的训练渐渐显现。同样地，还有正在逐渐成长的艺术家，但不是天生完美，他们可能天生具有清晰的观察力，向形状、比例、动作投去欣喜的目光，但对于更高级的组合、姿态、光线、阴影、颜色缺乏天生的洞察力，而自己却不会意识到这一点。*如果他不愿向技艺更为高超的前辈和当代艺术家学习，弥补自己的不足，以求成为真正的艺术家，那么他就会误入歧途，抱残守缺，还以为这是在保护自己的原创性。因为我们所拥有的不仅仅是与生俱来的禀赋，还有后天能够习得的技能，这两者共同造就了我们。*普遍概念和狂妄傲慢总有可能酿成恐怖的悲剧。*光凭吹气是不能演奏笛子的，你们还必须让手指动起来。*植物学家们有一个植物种类库，他们称其为“不完全的 [8] ”。人们也可以说，存在不完整的、不全面的人，这些人的渴望及追求与他们的行动及成果不成比例。*资质最差的人可能是完满的，前提是他们要在自己的能力范围内活动。然而如果缺失了最重要的恰当比例，即便是最优秀的长处也会暗淡、失效和破碎。这种灾难性的缺失现在愈发常见，因为又有谁能跟得上这个日益膨胀、发展极度迅猛的当下，满足它提出的所有要求呢？*有些人既聪明又主动，还能了解并恰当而巧妙地利用自己的能力，只有他们才能了解世界的真实面目。*大错特错：高估自己的能力，低估自己的价值。*我时不时会遇到这样一种年轻人，在他身上我不期望看到任何改变和提升。然而让我担心的是，我看到一些十分优秀的人在时代的浪潮中随波逐流，我一直想要提醒他们的是：正因为一个人的舢板易碎，他的手上才会拿着船桨。这样他就不会被暴虐的风浪裹挟，而可以按照自己的想法行动。*但是一个年轻人如何才能看清，那些人人追求、赞同、支持的东西，实则是有害而应该受到谴责的？为什么他不该放任自我以及自己的天性一起跟随潮流？*我们这个时代等不及任何事物的成熟，最大的悲哀是下一秒会将上一秒吞噬，虚度光阴的人们总是生活拮据，勉强糊口，无所作为。用来填满报纸版面的新闻已经足够多了！一个聪明的人或许还能够插入一两条。这样一来，一个人所做的事、所付出的努力、所写的文字，包括他计划中的创作，都会被公之于众。没有人被允许快乐或忧伤，除非作为他人的消遣，于是新闻就这样在街头巷尾传播，进而在城市之间、国家之间扩散，最终在各个大洲之间流行开来。这一切都基于速度至上的原则。*就像蒸汽机很难被压制一样，人们的行为也很难被规范：商贸蓬勃繁荣，纸币迅速流通，人们债台高筑，为的却是偿还之前的欠款。这一切对于现在的年轻人而言，都是可怕的东西。如果他天生性情沉静，既不会向世界索取无度，也不会任由外界定义自己，那么他将无比幸福！*然而当下的主流观念在方方面面威胁着他，所以最为重要的是及早让他看清自己的本心，明确自己的方向。*随着人年岁渐长，天真无邪的话语和行为变得愈发珍贵。我一直试图向身边人说明真诚、直白和轻率之间的区别，以及与其说三者之间有什么不同，莫不如说是一种从最无害到最有害的过渡，对其必须加以观察或者更多地去感受。*于是我们必须要训练自己为人处世的技巧，否则我们就有可能在无意间失去从别人那里获得的好意。人们或许能在生活中自己逐渐意识到这一点，不过事先一定会付出巨大的代价。可惜的是，我们并不能为后人省下这笔学费。*艺术和科学之于生活，是一种多变的关系，受到艺术和科学所处的层次、时代的特性以及其他众多偶然因素的影响。因此，要说明这一切并非易事。诗学往往在各种情况的最初阶段发挥作用，无论这里所说的情况是完全原始的，还是半开化的，抑或是指某一文化通过认知外来文化而正在转变。在这些情况下，人们可以说，新事物的作用完全得以发挥。*而音乐领域的上佳之作则并不需要多少创新，实际上，一个音乐作品越是经典，人们就越熟悉它，因而它能发挥的作用也就越大。*或许，音乐将艺术的价值体现得最为淋漓尽致，因为它的创作不需要用量精准的原材料，它是纯粹的形式和内容，使表达的一切东西变得高级而尊贵。*音乐要么是神圣的，要么是世俗的。音乐的神圣完全与音乐的价值相称，它也实现了音乐对生活影响的最大化，这种影响历经漫长的岁月却始终如一。世俗的音乐则应该完全是令人愉悦的。*杂糅了神圣和世俗特质的音乐是亵渎上帝的、粗制滥造的，它喜欢宣泄脆弱、可怜和悲哀的情绪，听上去乏味无聊。因为一方面，它不够庄重肃穆，称不上神圣；另一方面，它又缺乏世俗音乐的主要特征——令人愉悦。*教堂音乐的神圣庄严与世俗音乐的活泼欢快是两个核心，真正的音乐都围绕在它们周围。在这两点核心上，音乐总会不可避免地催生出虔诚或舞蹈。将两者混合会导致错误，将两者削弱会导致乏味，而如果音乐寻求与教育性的、描写性的以及其他类似的诗歌结合起来，那么就会变得冰冷。*事实上，雕塑艺术中，只有那些顶级的作品才能发挥作用。诚然，出于一两个原因，中等水平的作品会给我们留下深刻印象，但是它们导致的困惑多于它们带来的快乐。因此，雕塑艺术必须寻找对于素材的兴趣，这种兴趣往往出现在名人画像中。然而如果雕塑艺术打算同时兼顾真实和高贵的话，那么在此方面它也要达到一定的高度。*绘画是所有艺术中最自由、最闲适的一种。说它最自由，是因为虽然从原料和创作对象的角度出发，有些作品只能算作手工艺品，几乎称不上艺术，但是也会有许多人宽容它，喜欢它。还有一部分原因在于，不管一个人是否接受过教育，都会对一个工于技法而空洞无物的作品赞叹不已。只需要稍稍接近一些艺术，便可以更受欢迎。真实的颜色、外表和可见对象彼此之间的关系已经令人赏心悦目，而既然人眼已经对任何事物见怪不怪，那么一个错误形象或者画面对于视觉的冲击，就不如杂音对听觉的冲击大。人们可以容忍最糟糕的图画，因为人们对那些外表更加丑陋的东西都已经司空见惯了。一个画家只要和艺术家稍稍沾边，就已经可以比同样层次的音乐家更受欢迎了；此外，一个资质平庸的画家至少可以按照自己的意愿单干，而一个资质平庸的音乐家必须通过与人合作来寻求一些共鸣。*当我们探讨艺术作品时，是否应该比较它们孰高孰低？我的回答是：艺术鉴赏家应该比较，因为他们的脑海中存在这样的概念，知道艺术可以并应该创作出什么样的作品。对于还在接受艺术教育的业余爱好者们来说，如果想收获最多，那么就不应比较，而应该单独鉴赏每一个作品：这样一来，他会渐渐形成对于普遍事物的直觉和观念。外行之人对于艺术品的比较，实则只会方便他们骄傲自负地妄下论断。*对于真理的热爱表现为到处发现并珍惜美好的事物。*历史学的人情味表现为歌颂当代的美德与成就时，也不忘考虑前人的功德。*历史给我们的最好的东西，就是它所激起的热情。*特质唤醒特质。*人们必须想到，许多人也想表达一些有意义的东西，即便内容不多，但依旧为世界带来了一些特别的东西。*深入而认真思考的人们与大众关系不佳。*如果要我倾听别人的观点，那这一观点一定是以一种积极的方式表达的。那些麻烦的想法在我自己的脑子里已经够多了。*迷信是人类本性的一部分，当我们想要将其彻底驱逐时，它会逃到最奇怪的角落里，等它以为安全了一些时，又从那里突然冒出来。*如果我们不追求过于细致地了解事物，那么我们会掌握更多知识。只有当一个物体以四十五度角的姿态呈现时，我们才能理解它。*显微镜和望远镜实则扰乱了人类天生的感官。*我对很多事情保持沉默，因为我不想误导人们。如果惹我生气的事情让他们感到高兴，我就会心满意足。*任何解放我们的思想却没有让我们主宰自我的东西，都会使人堕落。*一件艺术品的内容比它的创作方式更令人感兴趣。人们可以详细地了解前者，却无法完整地掌握后者。所以人们在欣赏作品时会找出重点，最终当人们仔细观察这些地方，就会发现整体的效果并没有缺失，只是无人知晓而已。*“诗人是从哪里想出这一句的？”这一问题也仅仅是对内容的提问，没有人能从中读出有关方式的东西。*想象力只有通过艺术，尤其是诗歌，才能得以规范。最可怕的是没有品位的想象力。*矫揉造作是一种畸形的理想主义，一种主观的意识，因此它往往并不缺乏智慧的成分。*文献学家依赖传世文本的一致性。比如有一份手稿，它存在真实的漏洞和笔误，导致文义中断，以及其他可能被人指责的不足之处。而后又出现了一份抄本，接着冒出来了第三个，比较这些版本对于理解和理性看待原作的意义越来越大。他进一步深入研究，要求自己在不借助外界工具的情况下，更多地掌握并描述所讨论问题的一致性。因为这需要一种特殊技巧，要求对已故作者格外深入的了解和一定程度的创造力。所以人们不该责备文献学家对于鉴赏品位品头论足，即使他们在这方面并非每次都成功。*诗人依赖描写。描写的最高境界是可以与真实媲美，这意味着诗人的描写如此活灵活现，以至于人人都以为那与真实情况一般无二。最高水平的诗歌是表现外在的，它越是想回归内在，质量就越是下降。有些诗歌只描绘内在世界而不通过外在使其具象化，或者没有让读者透过内在而感受到外在，这两种诗歌都是诗学堕落至平庸的最后一步。*雄辩术依赖于诗歌的所有优势和权利，它抢占了诗歌的地位，还滥用诗歌，以求获得市民生活中某些眼前的、合乎或违背道德的外在优势。*文学是断篇的碎片。在发生的事情和人们说出的话中，只有最微小的部分会被书面记录下来。而在人们所记录的内容中，只有极为微小的部分会留存下来。*尽管拜伦勋爵的天赋是狂野奔放的、不讨人喜欢的，但几乎没有人能比得上他与生俱来的真实与大气。*所谓民歌的真正可贵之处在于，它们的创作主题直接取材于自然。受过良好教育的诗人如果方法得当，也能利用这一优势。*但是民歌的优点总有一个前提，即相比于受过教育的人们，普通人能更好地理解简洁的事物。*尚未成熟的天才阅读莎士比亚是危险的，莎翁的读者会不由自主地去模仿他，并且误认为自己是在独立创作。*只有历史的亲历者才有资格评判历史。这是放诸四海皆准的道理。德国人只有先拥有了自己的文学，才有资格评判文学。*一个人只有在享受他人善意的时候，才是真正有生命力的。*虔敬不是目的，而是手段，凭借精神最为纯洁的宁静抵达最高级的文化。*正因如此，我们发现那些把虔敬当成目的和终点的人们，大多变成了伪君子。*当一个人老去时，他需要做的事情比年轻时更多。*已经履行义务的人们总感觉自己依然背负着债务，那是因为人们永远无法满足对自我的期待。*只有冷酷无情的人才会感受到人性的缺陷，所以为了认清这些缺陷，人们必须变得冷酷，但仅仅是出于这个目的，不能过头。*终极的幸福是，我们的不足得到改进，我们的错误得到修正。*有三种人只有在特定的时机才能看清：战争中见真英雄，愤怒中见真智者，患难中见真朋友。*三种愚人：傲慢的男人，恋爱的少女，嫉妒的妇人。*疯子是：教育蠢材的人，反驳智者的人，被空话感染而热血沸腾的人，相信妓女的人，与不靠谱之人分享秘密的人。*人们只能与自己的同类生活，然而又不能，因为时间一长，他便不能忍受有人与他相同。*无论从哪一个角度观察自然，它都能孕育出无限。*如果有人想要知道一个东西的位置，那么他此前必定已经找到过它。郭 丁 瑜 译 Sketchy, Doubtful, Incomplete Jottings It is much easier to recognize error than to find truth; the former lies on the surface, this is quite manage-able; the latter resides in depth, and this quest is not everyone's business. *We all live on the past and perish by the past.*When we are called to learn something great, we at once take refuge in our native poverty and yet have still learnt something.*The Germans are indifferent about staying together, yet they do want to be on their own. Each person, never mind who he may be, has his own way of being alone and is unwilling to be deprived of this.*The empirical-moral world consists largely of bad will and envy.*Superstition is the poetry of life; so it does the poet no harm to be superstitious.*Trust is a curious matter. Listen only to one person: he may be wrong or deceiving himself; listen to many: they are in the same case, and as a rule you don't really discover the truth.*One should not wish anyone disagreeable conditions of life; but for him who is involved in them by chance, they are touchstones of character and of the most decisive value to man.*A limited, honest man often sees right through the knavery of the sharpest tricksters.*One who feels no love must learn to flatter, otherwise he won't make out.*You can neither protect nor defend yourself against criticism; you have to act in defiance of it and this is gradually accepted.*The crowd cannot do without efficient people and always finds efficiency burdensome.*Anyone who tells on my faults is my master, even if it happens to be my servant.*Memoirs from above downwards, or from below upwards: they are always bound to meet.*If you demand duties from people and will not con-cede them rights, you have to pay them well.*When a landscape is described as romantic, this means that there is a tranquil sense of the sublime in the form of the past, or, what amounts to the same, of solitude, remoteness, seclusion.*The splendid liturgical song ‘Veni Creator Spiritus’ is in actual fact a call addressed to genius; and this is also why it appeals powerfully to people who are spirited and strong.*Beauty is a manifestation of secret natural laws which without this appearance would have remained eter-nally hidden from us.*I can promise to be candid, not, however, to be impartial.*Ingratitude is always a kind of weakness. I have never known competent people to be ungrateful.*We are all so blinkered that we always imagine we are right; and so we can imagine an extraordinary spirit, a person who not only makes a mistake but even enjoys being wrong.*Completely moderate action to achieve what is good and right is very rare; what we usually see is pedantry seeking to retard, impertinence seeking to precipitate.*Word and image are correlatives which are always in quest of one another as metaphors and comparisons show us clearly enough. Thus, from of old, what is inwardly said or sung for the ear is at the same time intended for the eye. And so in ages which seem to us childlike, we see in codes of law and salvational doctrine, in bible and in primer, a continual balance of word and image. If they put into words what did not go into images, or formed an image of what could not be put into words, that was quite proper; but people often went wrong about this and used the spoken word instead of the pictorial image, which was the origin of those doubly wicked symbolically mystical monsters.*Anyone who devotes himself to the sciences suffers, firstly through retardations and then through preoc-cupations. To begin with, people are reluctant to admit the value of what we are providing; later on they act as though they already knew what we might be able to provide.*A collection of anecdotes and maxims is the greatest treasure for a man of the world-as long as he knows how to weave the former into apposite points of the course of conversation, and to recall the latter on fitting occasions.*People say, ‘Artist, study nature!' But it is no small matter to develop what is noble out of what is com-mon, beauty out of what lacks form.*Where concern is lost, memory fares likewise.*The world is a bell that is cracked: it clatters, but does not ring out clearly.*One must put up kindly with the pressing overtures of young dilettantes: with age they become the truest votaries of art and of the master.*When people really deteriorate, their only contribu-tion is malicious joy in the misfortune of others.*Intelligent people are always the best encyclopaedia.*There are people who never make mistakes because they never have sensible projects.*Knowing my attitude to myself and to the world outside me is what I call truth. And so everyone can have his own truth and yet it remains the self-same truth.*What is particular is eternally defeated by what is general; the general has eternally to fit in with the particular.*No one can control what is really creative, and every-body just has to let it go its own way.*Anyone to whom nature begins to unveil its open mystery feels an irresistible yearning for nature's noblest interpreter, for art.*Time is itself an element.*Man never understands how anthropomorphic he is.*A difference which gives reason nothing to register is not a difference.*In phanerogamy there is still so much of what is cryp-togamic that centuries will not suffice to unriddle it.*Exchanging one consonant for another might per-haps be due to some organ deficiency, transforming a vowel into a diphthong the result of conceited pathos.*If one had to study all laws, one would have no time at all to transgress them.*One can't live for everyone, more especially not for those with whom one wouldn't care to live.*A call to posterity originates in the clear vital feeling that there is such a thing as permanence and that even if this is not immediately acknowledged it will, in the end, win the recognition of a minority and finally of a majority. bear the though that anyone is like him.*Mysteries do not as yet amount to miracles.*Actors win hearts and don't give away their own; they cheat, but do it with charm.*Reckless, passionate favouritism of problematic men of talent was a failing of my younger years of which I could never completely rid myself.*I would like to be honest with you without us parting company; but this isn't possible. You are acting wrongly and trying to sit between two stools, not getting any followers and losing your friends. What's to come of this!*No matter whether you're of high rank or low, you can't avoid paying the price of your common humanity.*Writers of a liberal persuasion are now on to a good game; they have the whole public at their feet.*When I hear talk about liberal ideas, I'm always amazed how people like to delude themselves with the sound of empty words: an idea is not allowed to be liberal! Let it be forceful, doughty, self-enclosed, so as to fulfil its God-given mission of being product-ive. Still less is a concept allowed to be liberal; for its commission is completely different.*But where we have to look for liberality is in people's attitudes and these are their feelings come to life.*Attitudes, however, are seldom liberal because an attitude springs directly from the person, his imme-diate context and his needs.*We'll leave it at that; by this yardstick we should measure what we hear day after day!*It's always only our eyes, the way we imagine things; nature quite alone knows what it wills, what it intended.‘Give me where I stand!'Archimedes.‘Take where you stand!'Nose.Declare where you stand!G.It is general causal relationships which the observer will explore, and he will attribute similar phenomena to a general cause; rarely will he think of the imme-diate cause.*No intelligent man experiences a minor stupidity.*In every work of art, great or small, and down to the smallest detail, everything depends on the initial conception.*There is no such thing as poetry without tropes as poetry is a single trope writ large.*A kindly old examiner whispers into a schoolboy's ear: ‘Etiam nihil didicisti' [you haven't learnt anything as yet] and gives him a pass-mark.*Excellence is unfathomable; tackle it in what way you will.*The most mediocre novel is still better than mediocre readers, indeed the worst novel still participates in some way in the excellence of the genre as a whole.*I was intent on pursuing what is general until such time as I came to comprehend the achievement of outstanding people in what is particular.*You really only know when you know little; doubt grows with knowledge.*It's really a person's mistakes that make him endearing.*The Germans know how to correct, but not how to give supportive help.*There are people who love and seek out those like themselves, and, then again, those who love and pur-sue their opposites.*Anyone who had always allowed himself to take so poor a view of the world as our adversaries make out would have turned into a rotten subject.*Envy and hatred limit the observer's view to the sur-face even if this is also associated with acumen; if this, however, goes hand in hand with kindliness and love, the observer can see right through the world and mankind; indeed, he can hope to reach the Allhighest.*An English critic credits me with ‘panoramic ability', for which I must tender my most cordial thanks.*A certain measure of poetical talent is desirable for every German as the right way to cloak his condition, of whatever kind it may be, with a certain degree of worth and charm.*The subject-matter is visible to everyone, content is only discovered by him who has something to con-tribute, and form is a mystery to most.*People's inclinations favour what is vitally alive. And youth again forms itself by youth.*We may get to know the world however we choose, it will always keep a day and a night aspect.*Error is continually repeated in action, and that is why we must not tire of repeating in words what is true.*Just as in Rome, besides the Romans, there was also a people of statues, so, too, apart from this real world, there is also an illusory world, mightier almost, where the majority live.*People are like the Red Sea: the staff has hardly kept them apart, immediately afterwards they flow together again.*The historian's duty: to distinguish truth from false-hood, certainty from uncertainty, doubtful matters from those which are to be rejected.*Only someone to whom the present is important writes a chronicle.*Thoughts recur, convictions perpetuate themselves; circumstances pass by irretrievably.*Among all peoples, the Greeks have dreamt life's dream most beautifully.*Translators are to be regarded as busy matchmak-ers who exalt the great loveliness of a half-veiled beauty: they kindle an irresistible longing for the original.*We like to rate Antiquity higher than ourselves, but not posterity. It's only a father who doesn't envy a son's talent.*It's not at all hard to subordinate yourself; but when you are set on a declining course, in the descendant, how hard it is to admit that what is, in fact, below you is above you!*Our whole achievement is to give up our existence in order to exist.*All we devise and do is exhausting; happy the man who doesn't get weary.*‘Hope is the second soul of those who are unfortunate.'*He who acts as though he's glad, and is glad about what he has done, is happy.*There is, too, in man a desire to serve; hence French chivalry is a form of service, ‘servage’ .*‘In the theatre visual and aural entertainment greatly limit reflection.'*Experience can be extended into infinity; in not quite the same sense theory can be purified and perfected. To the former the universe is open in all directions; the latter remains locked within the confines of human capacity. This is why all modes of conceptual thinking are bound to reappear, and that is why, strangely enough, a theory of limited value can regain favour in spite of wider experience.*It is always the same world which lies open to our view, is always contemplated or surmised, and it is always the same people who live in truth or wrong-headedly, more comfortably in the latter way than in the former.*Truth is contrary to our nature, not so error, and this for a very simple reason: truth demands that we should recognize ourselves as limited, error flatters us that, in one way or another, we are unlimited.*It is now nearly twenty years since all Germans ‘tran-scend'. Once they notice this, they are bound to realize how odd they are.*It is natural enough that people should imagine they can still do what they were once able to do; that others imagine themselves capable of doing what they never could do is perhaps strange but not infrequent.*At all times only individuals have had an effect on scientific knowledge, not the epoch. It was the epoch that did Socrates to death by poison, the epoch that burnt Huss: epochs have always remained true to type.*This is true symbolism, where the particular repre-sents the general, not as dream and shadow, but as a live and immediate revelation of the unfathomable.*As soon as the ideal makes a demand on the real, it in the end consumes it and also itself. Thus credit (paper money) consumes silver and its own self.*Mastery is often seen as egoism.*As soon as good works and their merit cease, senti-mentality immediately takes over in the case of Protestants.*If you can seek out good advice, it's as though you yourself have the capacity for action.*There's nothing clever that hasn't been thought of before - you've just got to try to think it all over again.*How can we learn self-knowledge? Never by taking thought but rather by action. Try to do your duty and you'll soon discover what you're like.*But what is your duty? The demands of the day.*The reasonable world is to be seen as a great individ-ual not subject to mortality and forever bringing about what is needed, in this way even mastering chance events.*The longer I live, the more depressing I find the spec-tacle of a man, whose optimal function is to be a lord over nature so as to free himself and his fellow men from tyrannical necessity, doing the exact opposite of what he really wants to do, and all because of some preconceived false notion; and in the end, because the structure of the project as a whole has been ruined, he just muddles on miserably with odd details.*Man of ability and action, be worthy of, and expect:grace -from those who are greatfavour -from the powerfula helping hand -from those who are active and goodaffection -from the crowdlove -from an individual*When a dilettante has done what lies within his capacity to complete a work, he usually makes the excuse that of course it's as yet unfinished. Clearly, it never can be finished because it was never properly started. The master of his art, by means of a few strokes, produces a finished work; fully worked out or not, it is already completed. The cleverest kind of dilettante gropes about in uncertainties and, as the work proceeds, the dubiousness of the initial structure becomes more and more apparent. Right at the end the faulty nature of the work, impossible to correct, shows up clearly and so, of course, the work can never be finished.*For true art there is no such thing as preparatory schooling, but there are certainly preparations; the best, however, is when the least pupil takes a share in the master's work. Colour-grinders have turned into very good artists.*Copycat work, casually stimulating people's natural activity in imitating an important artist who achieves with ease what is difficult, is quite a different matter.*We are quite convinced that it is essential for the artist to make studies from nature; we won't however deny that it often grieves us to perceive the misuse of such praiseworthy endeavours.*We are convinced that the young artist should rarely, if at all, set out to do studies from nature without at the same time considering how he might round off every sheet and make a whole of it, transforming this unit into a pleasing picture set within a frame, and offer it courteously to the amateur and the expert.*Much that is beautiful stands as an isolated entity in the world, but the spirit has to discover connections and thus to create works of art. The flower unfolds its full beauty only through the insect that clings to it, through the dewdrop that makes it glisten, through the calix from out of which it may be drawing its last sustenance. No bush, no tree whose charm may not be enhanced by a neighbouring rock or brook, by a simple prospect in the distance. And so it is with human figures and so with animals of every kind.*The advantages accruing to a young artist in this way are indeed manifold. He learns to think out the best way of fitting together related things and, when he thus composes intelligently, he will, in the end, assuredly not lack what is termed invention, the cap-acity to develop a manifold whole out of single units.*And, as well as conforming to the tenets of art peda-gogy, he gains the great advantage, by no means to be despised, of learning to create saleable pictures that are a pleasure and delight to the art lover.*A work of this kind need not be complete down to the last detail; if it is well envisaged, thought out and finished, it is often more appealing to the art lover than a larger, more fully completed picture.*Let every young artist take a look at the studies in his sketch book and portfolio and consider how many of these sheets he might have been able to make enjoyable and desirable in this way.*We are not talking about the higher regions of art which might of course also be discussed; this is no more than a warning to recall the artist from a devious path and point the way to higher regions.*Let the artist put this to a practical test, if only for half a year, and not make use of either charcoal or brush unless he has the firm intention of actually structuring a picture out of the natural object or scene confronting him. If he has inborn talent, what we intended by our comments will soon be revealed.*Tell me with whom you consort and I will tell you who you are; if I know how you spend your time, then I know what might become of you.*Every individual must think in his own personal way; for on his way he always finds a truth or a kind of truth which helps him get through life. But he mustn't let himself go, he has got to keep a check on himself; purely naked instinct is unseemly.*Absolute activity, of whatever kind, ultimately leads to bankruptcy.*In the works of man as in those of nature, what most deserves notice is his intention.*People are at a loss with regard to themselves and one another because they use means as ends, and then, because of sheer busyness, nothing whatever happens or perhaps, even worse, something which is disagreeable.*What we think out, what we undertake, should have achieved such perfect clarity and beauty that any-thing the world could do to it could only spoil it; this would leave us with the advantage of only having to adjust what has been misplaced and refashion what has been destroyed.*Whole, half-and quarter-errors are most difficult and wearisome to put right, to sort out.*Truth need not always take corporeal form; enough for it to be around in spiritual form, bringing about harmony as it floats on the breeze as a spiritual pres-ence like the solemn-friendly sound of bells.*When I ask young German artists, even those who have spent some time in Italy, why they use such crudely bright colours, especially in their landscapes, and seem to shun anything like harmony, they are apt to answer boldly and cheerfully that this is pre-cisely how they see nature.*Kant has drawn our attention to the fact that there is such a thing as a Critique of Reason, and that this, the highest faculty possessed by man, has cause to keep watch over itself. Let everyone judge for himself what great advantages the voice of Kant has brought him. I, for my part, would similarly like to urge that a Critique of the Senses should be worked out, if art, especially German art, is in any way to recover and to proceed and progress at a pleasing and lively pace.*Man, born to be a creature of reason, nevertheless needs much education, whether this comes gradually by way of careful parents and tutors, by peaceful example or by stern experience. Similarly, there is such a thing as a born potential artist, but no one is born perfect. He may have an inborn clarity of vision, a happy eye for shape, proportion, movement: but without becoming aware of this lack, he may be with-out a natural instinct for composition in its higher aspects, for correct tonal proportion, for light, shade and colouring.*Now if he is not inclined to learn from more highly skilled contemporary or earlier artists what he himself lacks in order to be a true artist, he will lag behind his own potential because of a wrong-headed idea that he is safeguarding his own originality; for we own not just what we are born with, but also what we can acquire, and this is what we are.*General notions and great conceit are always poten-tial creators of shocking misfortune.*‘You don't play the flute just by blowing - you've got to move your fingers.'*Botanists have a plant-category which they call 'Incompletae'; similarly one can say that there are incomplete and uncompleted people. These are the ones whose longings and strivings are out of propor-tion with what they actually do and what they achieve.*The least gifted man can be complete if he keeps within the limits of his capacities and skills, but real excellence is obscured, cancelled out and destroyed if there is not that absolutely essential sense of pro-portion. This disastrous lack is bound to crop up frequently in our own day; for who can possibly keep up with the demands of an exorbitant present, and that at maximum speed?*Only those people who are both clever and active, who are clear about their own capacities and can use them with moderation and common sense, will really get on in the world as it is.*A great failing: to see yourself as more than you are and to value yourself at less than your true worth.*From time to time I meet a young man whom I wouldn't wish different or improved in any way; but what worries me is that some of these people seem to me just the kind who let themselves drift along with the current of the stream of time, and this is where I keep wanting to point out that man is put at the helm of his own fragile craft precisely so that he may not follow the whim of the waves, the determination of his own insight.*But how is a young man independently to reach the insight that what everyone else pursues, approves and furthers may be reprehensible and damaging? Why shouldn't he let himself and his own natural disposition go the same way?*The greatest evil of our time - which lets nothing come to fruition - is, I think, that one moment con-sumes the next, wastes the day within that same day and so is always living from hand to mouth without achieving anything of substance. Don't we already have news-sheets for every point of the day! A clever man might well be able to slip in one or two more. In this way everything that anyone does, is working at or writing, indeed plans to write, is dragged out into the open. No one is allowed to be happy or mis-erable except as a pastime for the rest of the world, and so news rushes from house to house, from town to town, from one country to another, and, in the end, from one continent to the next, and all on the principle of speed and velocity.*As little as steam engines can be quelled, so little is this possible in the behavioural realm: the lively pace of trade, the rapid rush of paper-money, the inflated increase of debts made in order to pay off other debts, these are the monstrous elements to which a young man is now exposed. How good for him if nature has endowed him with a moderate and calm attitude so that he makes no disproportionate claims on the world nor yet allows it to determine his course!*But the spirit of the day threatens him in every sphere and nothing is more important than to make him realize early enough the direction in which his will should steer.*As one grows older, the most innocent talk and action grow in significance, and to those I see around me for any length of time I always try to point out the shades of difference between sincerity, frankness and indis-cretion, and that there is really no difference between them, but just an intangible transition from the most harmless comment to the most damaging, and that this subtle transition has to be observed or indeed felt.*In this matter we have to use tact, else we run the risk of losing people's favour without being in the least aware of this and precisely in the way we came by it. This we probably come to understand in the course of life, but only after we have paid a high price for our experience, and from this we cannot, alas, spare those who come after us.*The relationship of the arts and the sciences to life is very varied according to the way their temporal stages are related to the nature of their epoch and a thou-sand other chance contingencies; which is why it isn't easy to make sense of all this.Poetry is most effective at the start of any set of circumstances, irrespective of whether these are quite crude, half-cultured, or when a culture is in the pro-cess of change as it begins to become aware of a foreign culture; in such cases one can claim the effect of the new is definitely to be felt.*Music at its best hardly needs to be new; indeed, the older it is, the more familiar to us, the more effective it can be.*The dignity of art perhaps appears most eminent in music because it has no material of a kind for which detailed accounting might be needed. It is all form and content and it heightens and ennobles all it expresses.*Music is either sacred or profane. What is sacred accords completely with its nobility, and this is where music most immediately influences life; such influence remains unchanged at all times and in every epoch. Profane music should be altogether cheerful.*Music of a kind that mixes the sacred with the pro-fane is godless and shoddy music which goes in for expressing feeble, wretched, deplorable feelings, and is just insipid. For it is not serious enough to be sacred and it lacks the chief quality of the opposite kind: cheerfulness.*The numinous nature of church music, the cheerful-ness and playfulness of folk melodies are the two pivots of true music. At these two focal points music always and inevitably leads either towards reverence or else to dance. Any mixture of the two is confusing, dilution is boring, and if music consorts with didactic or descriptive poems and texts of that kind, the result is coldness.*Plastic art is really only effective at its highest level; it is true that the middle zone can perhaps impress us for more reasons than one, but all middle-range art of this kind is more confusing than gladdening. Sculpture therefore has to discover subject-matter of interest and this is to be found in the portraits of people of some significance. But here, too, it has to reach a high degree of excellence if it is to be at the same time true and dignified.*Painting is the slackest and most easy-going of all the arts. The slackest because, on account of the material and subject-matter, we condone and enjoy much that is no more than skilled craftsmanship and can hardly be called art. In part it is also because a good tech-nical performance, even though it may be dull, can be admired by the cultured as well as the uneducated, and need only remotely resemble art in order to be highly acceptable. True colours, surfaces and a true relationship of visible objects - all this is in itself pleasing; and, since the eye is in any case used to seeing everything, it does not find misshapen or mistaken form as objectionable as a jarring note is for the listening ear. We tolerate the worst por-trayal because we are used to seeing even worse originals. So the painter need only be remotely artistic so as to find a bigger public than a musician of equal merit; the minor painter can at least always operate on his own, whereas the minor musician has to associate with others in order to achieve some sort of resonance by means of a combined musical effort.*The question ‘Are we to compare or not to compare when considering works of art' is one we would like to answer as follows: the trained connoisseur should make comparisons, for he has a general idea, a pre-conceived notion of what could be and should be achieved; the amateur, still involved in the process of being educated, can make the best progress if he does not compare but judges each achievement on its individual merit: this gradually forms an instinct and idea for the general situation. Comparison by the unknowing is really only a lazy and conceited way of avoiding judgement.*To find and to appreciate goodness everywhere is the sign of a love of truth.*The sign of a historical feeling for humanity is that, at the same time as we appreciate the merits and attainments of the present, we also take into account the merits of the past.*The best we get from history is that it rouses our enthusiasm.*Idiosyncrasy calls forth idiosyncrasy.*One has to remember that there are quite a lot of people who would like to say something significant without being productive, and then the most peculiar things see the light of day.*People who think deeply and seriously are on bad terms with the public.*If I'm to listen to someone else's opinion, it must be put in a positive way; I have enough problematic speculations in my own head.*Superstition is innate in the human make-up, and when you think you have completely ousted it, it takes refuge in the strangest nooks and crannies and then suddenly emerges when one thinks one is toler-ably safe.*We would know much more about things if we weren't intent on discerning them too precisely. For, surely, an object can only be comprehensible to us when viewed at an angle of forty-five degrees.*Microscopes and telescopes really only serve to con-fuse the unaided human senses.*I hold my peace about many things; for I don't like to confuse people and am quite content if they are happy while I am cross.*Everything that liberates our mind without at the same time imparting self-control is pernicious.*The ‘what' of a work of art interests people more than the ‘how'; they can grasp the subject-matter in detail but not the method as a whole. That is why they pick out individual passages, in which, if you observe closely, the total effect is not actually lost but remains unconscious to all.*And the question, too, ‘Where has the poet got it from? 'gets no further than the ‘what'; it helps no one to understand the ‘how'.*Imagination is only ordered and structured by poetry. There is nothing more awful than imagination devoid of taste.*Mannerism is an ideology gone wrong, a subjective ideology; that's why, as a rule, it isn't without wit.*The philologist is dependent on the congruence of what has been handed down in written form. There is a basic manuscript and this has real gaps, errors of transcription which lead to a break in the meaning and to other difficulties common to manuscript tradition. Then a second copy is found, a third one; collating these leads to growing perception of what makes sense and meaning in the transmitted material. Indeed, the philologist goes further and requires that it should increasingly reveal and structure its inner meaning and the congruence of its subject-matter without depend-ence on philological aides. This calls for a special degree of sensitive judgement, a special absorption in an author long dead and a certain amount of inventive power; one cannot, therefore, take it amiss if the phil-ologist allows himself to make a judgement in matters of taste even if this doesn't always succeed.*The poet is dependent on representation, the cli-max of which is reached when it vies with reality, that is, when the descriptions are so full of living power that everyone can see them as being actually present. At the summit of its excellence poetry appears as something completely external; the more it withdraws into the inner realm, the more it is on its way towards sinking. The kind of poetry which concentrates on the inner realm without giving it outward substance or without allowing the out-ward to be perceived through the inward - both are the last steps from which poetry steps down into ordinary life.*Oratory is dependent on all the advantages of poetry, on all its rights. It takes possession of these and mis-uses them in order to get hold of certain outer momentary advantages, whether moral or immoral, in civic life.*Literature is the fragment of fragments; only the least amount of what has happened and has been spoken was written down, the least of what has been recorded in writing has survived.*Although Lord Byron's talent is wild and uncomfort-able in its structure, hardly anyone can compare with him in natural truth and grandeur.*The really important value of folksong, so called, is that its themes are taken directly from nature. But the educated poet too might well avail himself of this advantage if only he knew how to set about it.*But the advantage inherent in folksong is that natural people, as distinct from the educated, are on better terms with what is laconic.*Shakespeare is dangerous reading for talents in the process of formation: he forces them to reproduce him, and they imagine they are producing themselves.*Nobody can make judgements about history except those who have experienced history as a part of their own development. This applies to whole nations. The Germans have only been able to judge literature since the point they themselves have had literature.*One is really only alive when one enjoys the good will of others.*Piety is not an end but a means to attain by the great-est peace of mind the highest degree of culture.*This is why we may say that those who parade piety as a purpose and an aim mostly turn into hypocrites.*'When one is old one has to do more than when one was young.'*A duty absolved still feels like an unpaid debt, because one can never quite live up to one's expectations.*Human failings are only descried by an unloving person; that is why, in order to realize them, one has to become unloving oneself, but not more than is strictly to the purpose.*It is our greatest good fortune to have our failings corrected and our faults adjusted.*Three things are not recognized except in the due course of time:a hero in wartime,a wise man in a rage,a friend in need.*Three classes of fools:men because of pride,girls by love,women by jealousy.*The following are mad:he who tries to teach simpletons,contradicts the wise,is moved by empty speeches,believes whores,entrusts secrets to the garrulous.*Man can only live together with his own kind and not with them either; for in the long run he cannot bear the thought that anyone is like him.*Whichever way you look at nature, it is the source of what is infinite.*You have to have actually found a thing if you want to know where it is situated.