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Nothing Is More Witty And Grotesque Than Ancient Mythology And Christianity; That Is Because They Are So Mystical.
-Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
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Nothing Is More Witty

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
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Nothing Is More Witty And Grotesque Than Ancient Mythology And Christianity; That Is Because They Are So Mystical.

Understanding the Quote: "nothing is more witty and grotesque than ancient mythology and christianity; that..."

This quote by Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel reflects deeply on the theme of witty. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Witty, Literature, Good Christian, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel is celebrated for insightful thoughts on witty and literature. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

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Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Witty
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The Two Basic Maxims Of The So-called Historical Criticism Are The Postulate Of The Common And The Axiom Of The Ordinary. Postulate Of The Common: Everything Really Great, Good, And Beautiful, Is Improbable, Since It Is Extraordinary And Therefore At Least Suspect. Axiom Of The Ordinary: Our Conditions And Environment Must Have Existed Everywhere, For They Are Really So Natural.
Beautiful
Two
History
The French Revolution, Fichte's Theory Of Knowledge, And Goethe's Wilhelm Meister Are The Three Greatest Tendencies Of The Age. Whoever Takes Offence At This Combination, And Whoever Does Not Consider A Revolution Important Unless It Is Blatant And Palpable, Has Not Yet Risen To The Lofty And Broad Vantage Point Of The History Of Mankind.
History
Important
Age
Some Speak Of The Public As If It Were Someone With Whom They Have Had Dinner At The Leipzig Fair In The Hotel De Saxe. Who Is This Public? The Public Is Not A Thing, But Rather An Idea, A Postulate, Like The Church.
Ideas
Church
Dinner
I Have Expressed Some Ideas That Point To The Center; I Have Saluted The Dawn In My Way, From My Point Of View. He Who Knows The Way Should Do The Same, In His Way, And From His Point Of View.
Views
Ideas
Dawn
The Symmetry And Organization Of History Teaches Us That Mankind, During Its Existence And Development, Genuinely Was And Became An Individual, A Person. In This Great Personality Of Mankind, God Became Man.
God
Men
Organization
Women Do Not Have As Great A Need For Poetry Because Their Own Essence Is Poetry.
Essence
Needs
Poetry Is
The Life And Vigor Of Poetry Consists Of The Fact That It Steps Out Of Itself, Tears Out A Section Of Religion, Then Withdraws Into Itself To Assimilate It. The Same Is True Of Philosophy.
Philosophy
Poetry
Tears
Genius Is, To Be Sure, Not A Matter Of Arbitrariness, But Rather Of Freedom, Just As Wit, Love, And Faith, Which Once Shall Become Arts And Disciplines. We Should Demand Genius From Everybody, Without, However, Expecting It.
Love
Art
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A Definition Of Poetry Can Only Determine What Poetry Should Be And Not What Poetry Actually Was And Is; Otherwise The Most Concise Formula Would Be: Poetry Is That Which At Some Time And Some Place Was Thus Named.
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Every Good Man Progressively Becomes God. To Become God, To Be Man, And To Educate Oneself, Are Expressions That Are Synonymous.
Education
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From What The Moderns Want, We Must Learn What Poetry Should Become; From What The Ancients Did, What Poetry Must Be.
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The Essential Point Of View Of Christianity Is Sin.
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Essentials
Literature
Religion And Morals Are Symmetrically Opposed, Just Like Poetry And Philosophy.
Philosophy
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Whoever Has Not Arrived At The Clear Insight That There Might Be Greatness Entirely Outside His Own Sphere For Which He Has No Understanding, Whoever Does Not Have At Least A Dim Inkling In Which Area Of The Human Spirit This Greatness Might Be Situated: He Is Within His Own Sphere Either Without Genius, Or He Has Not Educated Himself Up To The Point Of The Classical Attitude.
Attitude
Greatness
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The Naive Is What Is Or Appears To Be Natural, Individual, Or Classical To The Point Of Irony Or To The Point Of Continuous Alternation Of Self-creation And Self-destruction. If It Is Only Instinct, Then It Is Childlike, Childish, Or Silly; If It Is Only Intention, It Becomes Affectation.
Silly
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The Subject Of History Is The Gradual Realization Of All That Is Practically Necessary.
Realization
Literature
Subjects
If One Believes Philosophers, Then What We Call Religion Is Only A Deliberately Popularized Or An Instinctively Artless Philosophy. Poets Seem To Consider Religion Rather As A Variation Of Poetry Which By Misjudging Its Proper Beautiful Game Takes Itself Too Seriously And One-sidedly. Philosophy, However, Admits And Recognizes That It Can Begin And Complete Itself Only With Religion. Poetry Seeks Only To Strive For The Infinite And Despises Worldly Utility And Culture, Which Are The True Antitheses Of Religion. Eternal Peace Among Artists Is Thus Not Far Away.
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Novels Tend To End As The Paternoster Begins: With The Kingdom Of God On Earth.
Literature
Earth
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There Is So Much Poetry, And Yet Nothing Is More Rare Than A Poetic Work. This Is What The Masses Make Out Of Poetical Sketches, Studies, Aphorisms, Trends, Ruins, And Raw Material.
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As Long As The Artist Invents And Is Inspired, He Remains In A Constrained State Of Mind, At Least For The Purpose Of Communication. He Then Wants To Say Everything, Which Is The Wrong Tendency Of Young Geniuses Or The Right Prejudice Of Old Bunglers. Thus, He Fails To Recognize The Value And Dignity Of Self-restraint, Which Is Indeed For Both The Artist And The Man The First And The Last, The Most Necessary And The Highest Goal.
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Beauty Is That Which Is Simultaneously Attractive And Sublime.
Beauty
Sublime
Literature
Original Love Never Appears In Pure Form, But In Manifold Veils And Shapes, Such As Confidence, Humility, Reverence, Serenity, Asfaithfulness And Modesty, As Gratefulness; But Primarily As Longing And Wistful Melancholy.
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Separate Religion From Morality, And You Have The True Energy For Evil Within Man, The Terrible, Cruel, Devastating, And Inhuman Principle Which Naturally Lies In His Spirit. Here The Division Of The Indivisible Punishes Itself Most Awfully.
Lying
Men
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Every Complete Man Has His Genius. True Virtue Is Genius.
Men
Genius
Literature
Mysteries Are Feminine; They Like To Veil Themselves But Still Want To Be Seen And Divined.
Veils
Literature
Want
We Do Not See God, But Everywhere We See Something Divine; First And Most Typically In The Center Of A Reasonable Man, In The Depth Of A Living Human Product. You Can Directly Feel And Think Nature, The Universe, But Not The Godhead. Only The Man Among Men Can Poetize And Think Divinely And Live With Religion.
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Even A Friendly Conversation Which Cannot Be At Any Given Moment Be Broken Off Voluntarily With Complete Arbitrariness Has Something Illiberal About It. An Artist, However, Who Is Able And Wants To Express Himself Completely, Who Keeps Nothing To Himself And Would Wish To Say Everything He Knows, Is Very Much To Be Pitied.
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What Is Lost In The Good Or Excellent Translation Is Precisely The Best.
Literature
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You Wanted To Destroy Philosophy And Poetry In Order To Make Room For Religion And Morality Which You Misunderstood: But You Wereable To Destroy Only Yourself.
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If The Mystical Lovers Of The Arts, Who Consider All Criticism Dissection And All Dissection Destruction Of Enjoyment, Thought Logically, An Exclamation Like "goodness Alive!" Would Be The Best Criticism Of The Most Deserving Work Of Art. There Are Critiques Which Say Nothing But That, Only They Do So More Extensively.
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The History Of Imitation Of The Older Literature, Particularly Abroad, Has Among Other Advantages This One, That The Important Concepts Of Unintentional Parody And Passive Wit Can Be Deduced From It Most Easily And Comprehensively.
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Literature
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The Highest Good And Solely Useful Is Liberal Education.
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Liberal Education
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One Mentions Many Artists Who Are Actually Art Works Of Nature.
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Wit As An Instrument Of Revenge Is As Infamous As Art Is As A Means Of Sensual Titillation.
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The Life Of The Artist Should Be Distinguished From That Of All Other People, Even In External Habits. They Are Brahmins, A Higher Caste, Not Ennobled By Birth, However, But Through Deliberate Self-initiation.
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One Can Only Become A Philosopher, But Not Be One. As One Believes He Is A Philosopher, He Stops Being One.
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When Ideas Become Gods, Consciousness Of Harmony Becomes Devotion, Humility, And Hope.
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Life Is Writing. The Sole Purpose Of Mankind Is To Engrave The Thoughts Of Divinity Onto The Tablets Of Nature.
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Every Philosophical Review Ought To Be A Philosophy Of Reviews At The Same Time.
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Morality Without A Sense Of Paradox Is Mean.
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All Men Are Somewhat Ridiculous And Grotesque, Just Because They Are Men; And In This Respect Artists Might Well Be Regarded As Man Multiplied By Two. So It Is, Was, And Shall Be.
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Prudishness Is Pretense Of Innocence Without Innocence. Women Have To Remain Prudish As Long As Men Are Sentimental, Dense, And Evil Enough To Demand Of Them Eternal Innocence And Lack Of Education. For Innocence Is The Only Thing Which Can Ennoble Lack Of Education.
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In The Ancients, One Sees The Accomplished Letter Of Entire Poetry: In The Moderns, One Has The Presentiment Of The Spirit In Becoming.
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Since Poetry Is Infinitely Valuable, I Do Not Understand Why It Should Be More Valuable Than This Or That Which Is Also Infinitelyvaluable. There Are Artists Who Perhaps Do Not Think Art To Be Too Great, For This Is Impossible, And Yet They Are Not Free Enough To Be Able To Rise Above Their Own Best Accomplishments.
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Real
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Literature
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Humanity
Needs
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If One Writes Or Reads Novels From The Point Of View Of Psychology, It Is Very Inconsistent And Petty To Want To Shy Away From Even The Slowest And Most Detailed Analysis Of The Most Unnatural Lusts, Gruesome Tortures, Shocking Infamy, And Disgusting Sensual Or Spiritual Impotence.
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Views
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Think Of Something Finite Molded Into The Infinite, And You Think Of Man.
Men
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Wit Is Absolutely Sociable Spirit Or Aphoristic Genius.
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Man Is Free Whenever He Produces Or Manifests God, And Through This He Becomes Immortal.
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With Respect To Ingenious Subconsciousness, I Think, Philosophers Might Well Rival Poets.
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Thinking
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Poetic
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Laziness Is The One Divine Fragment Of A Godlike Existence Left To Man From Paradise.
Men
Laziness
Paradise
Nothing Is More Witty And Grotesque Than Ancient Mythology And Christianity; That Is Because They Are So Mystical.
Witty
Literature
Good Christian
All The Great Truths Are Basically Trivial And So We Have To Find New Ways, Preferably Paradoxical Ways, Of Expressing Them, In Order To Keep Them From Falling Into Oblivion.
Fall
Order
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Whoever Could Properly Characterize Goethe's Meister Would Have Actually Expressed What Is The Timely Trend In Literature. He Would Be Able, As Far As Literary Criticism Is Concerned, To Rest.
Criticism
Would Be
Literature
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Art
Reflection
Reality
What Do The Few Existing Mystics Still Do? -- They More Or Less Mold The Raw Chaos Of Already Existing Religion. But Only In An Isolated, Insignificant Manner, Through Feeble Attempts. Do It In A Grand Manner From All Aspects With Unified Efforts, And Let Us Awaken All Religions From Their Graves, Newly Revivify And Form The Immortal Ones Through The Omnipotence Of Art And Science.
Art
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Education
Men
Musical
Set Religion Free, And A New Humanity Will Begin.
Humanity
Religion
Literature
I Can No Longer Say My Love And Your Love; They Are Both Alike In Their Perfect Mutuality.
Perfect
I Can
Religion Can Emerge In All Forms Of Feeling: Here Wild Anger, There The Sweetest Pain; Here Consuming Hatred, There The Childlike Smile Of Serene Humility.
Smile
Pain
Anger
When The Author Has No Idea Of What To Reply To A Critic, He Then Likes To Say: You Could Not Do It Better Anyway. This Is The Same As If A Dogmatic Philosopher Reproached A Skeptic For Not Being Able To Devise A System.
Ideas
Criticism
Able
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Artist
Self
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Learning
Literature
Caricatures
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Art
Enthusiasm
Instinct
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Mind
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Just As A Child Is Really A Thing That Wants To Become A Man, So Is The Poem An Object Of Nature That Wants To Become An Object Ofart.
Children
Men
Poetry
The Obsession With Moderation Is The Spirit Of Castrated Narrow-mindedness.
Excess
Spirit
Obsession
God The Father, And Even More Often The Devil Himself, Appears At Times In The Place Of Fate In The Modern Tragedy. Why Is It Thatthis Has Not Induced Any Scholar To Develop A Theory Of The Diabolical Genre?
Father
Fate
Tragedy
Just As The Romans Were The Only Nation That Was Truly A Nation, So Our Age Is The First Genuine Age.
Time
Age
Eras
Poetry And Philosophy Are, According To How You Take Them, Different Spheres, Different Forms, Or Factors Of Religion. Try To Really Combine Both, And You Will Have Nothing But Religion.
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Poetry
Because Christianity Is A Religion Of Death, It Could Be Treated With The Utmost Realism, And It Could Have Its Orgies, Just Likethe Old Religion Of Nature And Life.
Christianity
Christian Life
Realism
Philosophy Still Moves Too Much Straight Ahead, And Is Not Yet Cyclical Enough.
Philosophy
Moving
Philosophical
The Few Existing Writings Against Kantian Philosophy Are The Most Important Documents In The Case History Of Sound Common Sense.
Philosophy
Writing
Common Sense
A Classification Is A Definition Comprising A System Of Definitions.
Definitions
Classification
Since Philosophy Now Criticizes Everything It Comes Across, A Critique Of Philosophy Would Be Nothing Less Than A Just Reprisal.
Philosophy
Would Be
Literature
Virtue Is Reason Which Has Become Energy.
Energy
Literature
Virtue
The Naive Which Is Simultaneously Beautiful, Poetic, And Idealistic, Must Be Both Intention And Instinct. The Essence Of Intention, In This Sense, Is Freedom. Consciousness Is Far From Intention. There Is A Certain Enamoured Contemplation Of One's Own Naturalness Or Silliness Which Itself Is Unspeakably Silly. Intention Does Not Necessarily Require A Profound Calculation Or Plan.
Beautiful
Silly
Essence
An Artist Is He Who Has His Center Within Himself. He Who Lacks This Must Choose A Particular Leader And Mediator Outside Of Himself, Not Forever, However, But Only At First. For Man Cannot Exist Without A Living Center, And If He Does Not Have It Within Himself, He May Seek It Only In A Human Being. Only A Human Being And His Center Can Stimulate And Awaken That Of Another.
Artist
Men
Leader
The German National Character Is A Favorite Subject Of Character Experts, Probably Because The Less Mature A Nation, The More She Is An Object Of Criticism And Not Of History.
Character
Criticism
Favorite Subject
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Writing
Men
Together
The Genuine Priest Always Feels Something Higher Than Compassion.
Compassion
Genuine
Priests
Imagination Must First Be Filled To The Point Of Saturation With Life Of Every Kind Before The Moment Arrives When The Friction Of Free Sociability Electrifies It To Such An Extent That The Most Gentle Stimulus Of Friendly Or Hostile Contact Elicits From It Lightning Sparks, Luminous Flashes, Or Shattering Blows.
Spiritual
Blow
Imagination
Novels Are The Socratic Dialogues Of Our Time. Practical Wisdom Fled From School Wisdom Into This Liberal Form.
Wisdom
School
Form
There Are Three Kinds Of Explanation In Science: Explanations Which Throw A Light Upon, Or Give A Hint At A Matter; Explanations Which Do Not Explain Anything; And Explanations Which Obscure Everything.
Science
Light
Giving
Man Is A Creative Retrospection Of Nature Upon Itself.
Men
Creative
Literature
Where Philosophy Ends, Poetry Must Commence. There Should Not Be A Common Point Of View, A Natural Manner Of Thinking Which Standsin Contrast To Art And Liberal Education, Or Mere Living; That Is, One Should Not Conceive Of A Realm Of Crudeness Beyond The Boundaries Of Education. Every Conscious Link Of An Organism Should Not Perceive Its Limits Without A Feeling For Its Unity In Relation To The Whole. For Example, Philosophy Should Not Only Be Contrasted To Non-philosophy, But Also To Poetry.
Art
Philosophy
Philosophical
Where There Is Politics Or Economics, There Is No Morality.
Literature
Politics
Ethics
If You Want To See Mankind Fully, Look At A Family. Within The Family Minds Become Organically One, And For This Reason The Family Is Total Poetry.
Mind
Looks
Literature
Can We Expect The Redemption Of The World From Scholars? I Doubt It. But The Time Has Come For All Artists To Join Together As A Confederation In An Eternal League.
Artist
League
Doubt
Combine The Extremes, And You Will Have The True Center.
Literature
Two Extremes
Extremes
Honor Is The Mysticism Of Legality
Honor
Legality
Mysticism
Versatility Of Education Can Be Found In Our Best Poetry, But The Depth Of Mankind Should Be Found In The Philosopher.
Education
Depth
Literature
A So-called Happy Marriage Corresponds To Love As A Correct Poem To An Improvised Song.
Wedding
Song
Happy Marriage
Wit Is The Appearance, The External Flash, Of Fantasy. Hence Its Divinity And The Similarity To The Wit Of Mysticism.
Witty
Character
Imagination
Poetry Should Describe Itself, And Always Be Simultaneously Poetry And The Poetry Of Poetry.
Poetry
Literature
Should
He Who Has Religion Will Speak Poetry. But Philosophy Is The Tool With Which To Seek And Discover Religion.
Philosophy
Religion
Tools
What Is Called Good Society Is Usually Nothing But A Mosaic Of Polished Caricatures.
Society
Mosaics
Literature
In True Prose Everything Must Be Underlined.
Literature
Prose
The Meanest Authors Have At Least This Similarity With The Great Author Of Heaven And Earth, That They Usually Say After A Completed Day Of Work: "and Behold, What He Had Done Was Good.
Creativity
Heaven
Done
A Family Can Develop Only With A Loving Woman As Its Center.
Family
Loving Life
Family Love
A Good Preface Must Be The Root And The Square Of The Book At The Same Time.
Book
Squares
Roots
The Following Are The Universally Fundamental Laws Of Literary Communication: 1. One Must Have Something To Communicate; 2. One Must Have Someone To Whom To Communicate It; 3. One Must Really Communicate It, Not Merely Express It For Oneself Alone. Otherwise It Would Be More To The Point To Remain Silent.
Communication
Law
Would Be
Publication Is To Thinking As Childbirth Is To The First Kiss.
Kissing
Thinking
First Kiss
Sense (for A Particular Art, Science, Human Being, And So Forth) Is Divided Spirit; Self-restraint Is Consequently The Result Of Self-creation And Self-destruction.
Art
Self
Spirit
He Who Does Not Become Familiar With Nature Through Love Will Never Know Her.
Doe
Familiar
Knows
The Whole History Of Modern Poetry Is A Continuous Commentary On The Short Text Of Philosophy: Every Art Should Become Science, And Every Science Should Become Art; Poetry And Philosophy Should Be United.
Art
Philosophy
Philosophical
Women Are Treated As Unjustly In Poetry As In Life. The Feminine Ones Are Not Idealistic, And The Idealistic Not Feminine.
Literature
Feminine
Treated
Philosophy Is The True Home Of Irony, Which Might Be Defined As Logical Beauty: For Wherever Men Are Philosophizing In Spoken Or Written Dialogues, And Provided They Are Not Entirely Systematic, Irony Ought To Be Produced And Postulated; Even The Stoics Regarded Urbanity As A Virtue.
Philosophy
Home
Men
Poetry Can Be Criticized Only Through Poetry. A Critique Which Itself Is Not A Work Of Art, Either In Content As Representation Of The Necessary Impression In The Process Of Creation, Or Through Its Beautiful Form And In Its Liberal Tone In The Spirit Of The Old Roman Satire, Has No Right Of Citizenship In The Realm Of Art.
Beautiful
Art
Poetry
That Which Reminds Us Of Nature And Thus Stimulates A Feeling For The Infinite Abundance Of Life Is Beautiful. Nature Is Organic,and Therefore The Highest Beauty Is Forever Vegetative; And The Same Is True For Morality And Love.
Beautiful
Nature
Forever
If The Essence Of Cynicism Consists In Preferring Nature To Art, Virtue To Beauty And Science; In Not Bothering About The Letter Of Things -- To Which The Stoic Strictly Adheres -- But In Looking Up To The Spirit Of Things; In Absolute Contempt Of All Economic Values And Political Splendor, And In Courageous Defence Of The Rights Of Independent Freedom; Then Christianity Would Be Nothing But Universal Cynicism.
Art
Independent
Rights
One Of Two Things Is Usually Lacking In The So-called Philosophy Of Art: Either Philosophy Or Art.
Art
Philosophy
Two
The Main Thing Is To Know Something And To Say It.
Knows
Wit Is An Explosion Of The Compound Spirit.
Literature
Spirit
Explosions
Gracefulness Is A Correct Life: Sensuality Which Contemplates And Forms Itself.
Decorum
Form
Sensuality
Through Artists Mankind Becomes An Individual, In That They Unite The Past And The Future In The Present. They Are The Higher Organ Of The Soul, Where The Life Spirits Of Entire External Mankind Meet And In Which Inner Mankind First Acts.
Past
Artist
Soul
An Artist Is He For Whom The Goal And Center Of Life Is To Form His Mind.
Artist
Goal
Mind
The Poetry Of This One Is Called Philosophical, Of That One Philological, Of A Third Rhetorical, And So On. Which Is Then The Poetic Poetry?
Philosophical
Poetic
Rhetorical
God Is Each Truly And Exalted Thing, Therefore The Individual Himself To The Highest Degree. But Are Not Nature And The World Individuals?
Degrees
Literature
World
Reason Is Mechanical, Wit Chemical, And Genius Organic Spirit.
Genius
Spirit
Reason
It Is Peculiar To Mankind To Transcend Mankind.
Peculiar
Literature
Mankind
The Difference Between Religion And Morality Lies Simply In The Classical Division Of Things Into The Divine And The Human, If One Only Interprets This Correctly.
Lying
Differences
Religion
A Priest Is He Who Lives Solely In The Realm Of The Invisible, For Whom All That Is Visible Has Only The Truth Of An Allegory.
Invisible
Priests
Realms
In The World Of Language, Or In Other Words In The World Of Art And Liberal Education, Religion Necessarily Appears As Mythology Or As Bible.
Education
Art
World
About No Subject Is There Less Philosophizing Than About Philosophy.
Philosophy
Literature
Subjects
It Is A Thoughtless And Immodest Presumption To Learn Anything About Art From Philosophy. Some Do Begin As If They Hoped To Learnsomething New Here, Since Philosophy Cannot And Should Not Do Anything Further Than Develop The Given Art Experiences And The Existing Art Concepts Into A Science, Improve The Views Of Art, And Promote Them With The Help Of A Thoroughly Scholarly Art History, And Produce That Logical Mood About These Subjects Too Which Unites Absolute Liberalism With Absolute Rigor.
Art
Philosophy
Philosophical
Nothing Truly Convincing - Which Would Possess Thoroughness, Vigor, And Skill - Has Been Written Against The Ancients As Yet; Especially Not Against Their Poetry.
Skills
Vigor
Literature
To Disrespect The Masses Is Moral; To Honor Them, Lawful.
Law
Disrespect
Honor
If You Want To Penetrate Into The Heart Of Physics, Then Let Yourself Be Initiated Into The Mysteries Of Poetry.
Heart
Want
Mystery
We Should Never Invoke The Spirit Of Antiquity As Our Authority. Spirits Are Peculiar Things; They Cannot Be Grasped With The Hands And Be Held Up Before Others. Spirits Reveal Themselves Only To Spirits. The Most Direct And Concise Method Would Be, In This Case As Well, To Prove The Possession Of The Only Redeeming Faith By Good Works.
Hands
Would Be
Peculiar
German Writings Attain Popularity Through A Great Name, Or Through Personalities, Or Through Good Connections, Or Through Effort,or Through Moderate Immorality, Or Through Accomplished Incomprehensibility, Or Through Harmonious Platitude, Or Through Versatile Boredom, Or Through Constant Striving After The Absolute.
Writing
Names
Boredom
Ideas Are Infinite, Original, And Lively Divine Thoughts.
Ideas
Infinite
Divine
Religion Is Not Only A Part Of Education, An Element Of Humanity, But The Center Of Everything Else, Always The First And The Ultimate, The Absolutely Original.
Education
Humanity
Elements
A Classical Work Doesn't Ever Have To Be Understood Entirely. But Those Who Are Educated And Who Are Still Educating Themselves Must Desire To Learn More And More From It.
Desire
Literature
Classic
All Thinking Of The Religious Man Is Etymological, A Reduction Of All Concepts To The Original Intuition, To The Characteristic.
Religious
Men
Thinking
The Analytical Writer Observes The Reader As He Is; Accordingly, He Makes His Calculation, Sets His Machine To Make The Appropriate Effect On Him. The Synthetic Writer Constructs And Creates His Own Reader; He Does Not Imagine Him As Resting And Dead, But Lively And Advancing Toward Him. He Makes That Which He Had Invented Gradually Take Shape Before The Reader's Eyes, Or He Tempts Him To Do The Inventing For Himself. He Does Not Want To Make A Particular Effect On Him, But Rather Enters Into A Solemn Relationship Of Innermost Symphilosophy Or Sympoetry.
Eye
Doe
Machines
One Has Only As Much Morality As One Has Philosophy And Poetry.
Philosophy
Motherhood
Morality
An Aphorism Ought To Be Entirely Isolated From The Surrounding World Like A Little Work Of Art And Complete In Itself Like A Hedgehog.
Art
Literature
World
A Critic Is A Reader Who Ruminates. Thus, He Should Have More Than One Stomach.
Should Have
Criticism
Stomach
There Is No Self-knowledge Except Historical Self-knowledge. No One Knows What He Is If He Doesn't Know What His Contemporaries Are.
Self
Historical
Knows
How Many Authors Are There Among Writers? Author Means Originator.
Mean
Literature
Aphorisms Are The True Form Of The Universal Philosophy.
Philosophy
Literature
Aphorism
Witty Inspirations Are The Proverbs Of The Educated.
Witty
Inspiration
Engagement
In Many A Poetic Work, One Gets Here And There, Instead Of Representation Merely A Title Indicating That This Or That Was Supposedto Be Represented Here, That The Artist Has Been Prevented From Doing It And Most Humbly Asks To Be Kindly Excused.
Artist
Poetry
Here And There
Only Through Religion Can Logic Develop Into Philosophy, Only From This Source Stems That Which Makes Philosophy More Than Science. And Without Religion We Will Have Only Novels, Or The Triviality Today Called Belles Lettres Instead Of An Eternally Rich And Infinite Poetry.
Philosophy
Religion
Today
Like Leibniz's Possible Worlds, Most Men Are Only Equally Entitled Pretenders To Existence. There Are Few Existences.
Men
World
Existence
Eternal Life And The Invisible World Are Only To Be Sought In God. Only Within Him Do All Spirits Dwell. He Is An Abyss Of Individuality, The Only Infinite Plenitude.
Individuality
World
Spirit
The Historian Is A Prophet Looking Backward.
Literature
Prophet
Historian
The Most Important Thing In Love Is The Sense For One Another, And The Highest Thing The Faith In One Another. Devotion Is The Expression Of That Faith, And Pleasure Can Revive And Enhance That Sense, Even If Not Create It, As Is Commonly Thought. Therefore, Sensuality Can Delude Bad Persons For A Short Time Into Thinking They Could Love Each Other.
Love Is
Thinking
Expression
Religion Is Absolutely Unfathomable. Always And Everywhere One Can Dig More Deeply Into Infinities.
Religion
Literature
Infinity
Without Poetry, Religion Becomes Obscure, False, And Malignant; Without Philosophy, Licentious In All Wantonness, And Lascivious To The Point Of Self-castration.
Philosophy
Philosophical
Self
Plato's Philosophy Is A Dignified Preface To Future Religion.
Plato
Philosophy
Religion
In Order To Be Able To Write Well Upon A Subject, One Must Have Ceased To Be Interested In It; The Thought Which Is To Be Soberlyexpressed Must Already Be Entirely Past And No Longer Be One's Actual Concern.
Writing
Past
Order
Only He Who Possesses A Personal Religion, An Original View Of Infinity, Can Be An Artist.
Artist
Views
Individuality
Whoever Does Not Philosophize For The Sake Of Philosophy, But Rather Uses Philosophy As A Means, Is A Sophist.
Philosophy
Mean
Doe
True Love Should Be, According To Its Origin, Entirely Arbitrary And Entirely Accidental At The Same Time; It Should Seem Both Necessary And Free; In Keeping With Its Nature, However, It Should Be Both Destiny And Virtue And Appear As A Mystery And A Miracle.
Destiny
Miracle
Arbitrary
Many A Witty Inspiration Is Like The Surprising Reunion Of Befriended Thoughts After A Long Separation.
Witty
Inspiration
Long
Those Works Whose Ideal Has Not As Much Living Reality And, As It Were, Personality As The Beloved One Or A Friend Had Better Remain Unwritten. They Would At Least Never Become Works Of Art.
Art
Reality
Personality
Irony Is The Form Of Paradox. Paradox Is What Is Good And Great At The Same Time.
Ironic
Literature
Irony
Religion Is Usually Nothing But A Supplement To Or Even A Substitute For Education, And Nothing Is Religious In The Strict Sense Which Is Not A Product Of Freedom. Thus One Can Say: The Freer, The More Religious; And The More Education, The Less Religion.
Education
Religious
Religion
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