Piet Hein Quotes

REFLECTION ON SIZE

Small people often overrate
the charm of being tall;
which is, that you appreciate
the charm of being small.

SMALL THINGS
& GREAT

He that lets
the small things bind him
leaves the great
undone behind him.

Mankind

Men, said the Devil,
are good to their brothers:
they don’t want to mend
their own ways, but each other's.

It isn't enough to exasperate others. You have to remember to gladden yourself!

Experts have their expert fun ex cathedra telling one just how nothing can be done.

True wisdom knows it must comprise some nonsense as a compromise, lest fools should fail to find it wise.

Co-existence or no existence.

MAKING AN EFFORT
Our so-called limitations, I believe,
apply to faculties we don't apply.
We don't discover what we can't achieve
until we make an effort not to try.

En blomst ved min elskedes seng har jeg sat, // en rose, der rødmende stod der i nat. // Først faldt der er et blad og så to os og fler, // nu tror den vist ikke på knopskydning mer.

We ought to live each day as though
it were our last day here below.
But if I did, alas, I know
it would have killed me long ago.

The human spirit sublimates the impulses it thwarts; a healthy sex life mitigates the lust for other sports.

Freedom means you're free to do just whatever pleases you; — if, of course that is to say, what you please is what you may.

WHO IS LEARNED? A definition

One who, consuming midnight oil
in studies diligent and slow,
teaches himself, with painful toil,
the things that other people know.

WHAT PEOPLE MAY THINK

Some people cower
and wince and shrink,
owing to fear of
what people may think.
There is one answer
to worries like these:
people may think
what the devil they please.

A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Stomach-ache can be a curse;
heart-ache may be even worse;
so thank Heaven on your knees
if you've got but one of these.