Friedrich Schlegel Quotes

Wit is the appearance, the external flash of imagination. Thus its divinity, and the witty character of mysticism.

The need to raise itself above humanity is humanity’s prime characteristic.

The mind understands something only insofar as it absorbs it like a seed into itself, nurtures it, and lets it grow into blossom and fruit. Therefore scatter holy seeds into the soil of the spirit.

The greatness of this people was attested by "the gigantic grandeur and durability of Egyptian and Indian architecture in contradistinction to the fragile littleness of modem buildings. This consideration will enable us," he continued, "by analogy to grasp the idea . . . that all these famous nations sprang from one stock, and that their colonies were all one people directly or indirectly, of Indian origin.... "

There is no self-knowledge except historical self-knowledge. No one knows what he is if he doesn’t know what his contemporaries are.

The doctrine of the transmigration of souls was indigenous to India and was brought into Greece by Pythagoras.

Take playfulness seriously, and you will apprehend what is at the center and rediscover your revered art in a more sublime light.

Where there is politics or economics, there is no morality.

Ein Künstler ist, wer sein Centrum in sich selbst hat. Wem es da fehlt, der muss einen bestimmten Führer und Mittler ausser sich wählen.

Whether directly or indirectly all nations are originally nothing but Indian colonies... the oriental antiquity could, if we consented to deepen it, bring us back more safely towards the divine....

Moderation is the spirit of castrated narrow-mindedness.

It is individuality which is the original and eternal within man; personality doesn’t matter so much. To pursue the education and development of this individuality as one’s highest vocation would be a divine egoism.

Es ist der Menschheit eigen, dass sie sich über die Menschheit erheben muss.

Der Satan der italienischen und englischen Dichter mag poetischer sein; aber der deutsche Satan ist satanischer; und insofern könnte man sagen, der Satan sei eine deutsche Erfindung.

It cannot be denied that the early Indians possessed knowledge of God. All their writings are replete with sentiments and expressions, noble, clear, severely grand, as deeply conceived in any human language in which men have spoken of their God.