Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Gotthold Ephraim Lessingwas a German writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the development of German literature. He is widely considered by theatre historians to be the first dramaturg in his role at Abel Seyler's Hamburg National Theatre...
NationalityGerman
ProfessionCritic
Date of Birth22 January 1729
CountryGermany
sleep sound awake
How can such deep-imprinted images sleep in us at times, till a word, a sound, awake them?
giver
For the will and not the gift makes the giver.
lions foxes ashamed
The lion is ashamed, it's true, when he hunts with the fox.
world lost glorious
They make glorious shipwreck who are lost in seeking worlds.
mistrust suspicion
Suspicion follows close on mistrust.
stealing lending interest
To borrow scarce is better than to beg; As lending, lending upon interest, Scarce better is than stealing.
lending begging borrowing
I, who ne'erWent for myself a begging, go a borrowing,And that for others. Borrowing's much the sameAs begging; just as lending upon usuryIs much the same as thieving.
education men race
What education is to the individual man, revelation is to the human race. Education is revelation coming to the individual man, and revelation is education that has come, and is still coming to the human race.
hair forever devil
Let the devil catch you but by a single hair, and you are his forever.
grateful ambition blessing
My God, grant that my bounty may be a clear and transparent river, flowing from pure charity, and uncontaminated by self-love, ambition, or interest. Thanks are due not to me, but Thee, from whom all I possess is derived. And what are the paltry gifts for which my neighbor forgets to thank me, compared with the immense blessings for which I have so often forgotten to be grateful to Thee!
superstitions loses bigotry
The superstition in which we were brought up never loses its power over us, even after we understand it.
time thinking past
But how many moments are already past! Ah! who thinks of those that are past?
sun reason
Nothing under the sun is ever accidental.
friendship sky sun
With a clear sky, a bright sun, and a gentle breeze, you will have friends in plenty; but let fortune frown, and the firmament be overcast, and then your friends will prove like the strings of the lute, of which you will tighten ten before you find one that will bear the stretch and keep the pitch.