Great genius takes shape by contact with another great genius, but less by assimilation than by friction. - Heinrich Heine

Im wunderschönen Monat Mai,
Als alle Vögel sangen,
Da ist meinem Herzen
Die Liebe aufgegangen.

Im wunderschönen Monat Mai,
Als alle Knospen sprangen,
Da hab' ich ihr gestanden
Mein Sehnen und Verlangen.

Translation:

In the beautiful month of May,
as all the birds were singing,
love started to blossom
inside of my heart.

In the beautiful month of May,
as all the buds were blossoming,
I confessed to her
my yearning and longing.

Although the Protestant Church is accused of much disastrous bigotry, one claim to immortal fame must be granted it: by permitting freedom of inquiry in the Christian faith and by liberating the minds of men from the yoke of authority, it enabled freedom of inquiry in general to take root in Germany, and made it possible for science to develop independently. German philosophy, though it now puts itself on an equal basis with the Protestant Church or even above it, is nonetheless only its daughter; as such it always owes the mother a forbearing reverence.

In dark ages people are best guided by religion, as in a pitch-black night a blind man is the best guide; he knows the roads and paths better than a man who can see. When daylight comes, however, it is foolish to use blind, old men as guides.