German scientist & satirist (1742-1799)
You believe that I run after the strange because I do not know the beautiful; no, it is because you do not know the beautiful that I seek the strange.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
"Notebook F", Aphorisms
He moved as slowly as an hour-hand in a crowd of second-hands.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
The Waste Books
It is a dangerous thing for the perfecting of our minds to gain applause by works that do not call forth the whole of our energies; for in that case one generally comes to a standstill.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
The Reflections of Lichtenberg
The greatest things in the world are brought about by other things which we count as nothing: little causes we overlook but which at length accumulate.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
The Waste Books
Her petticoat had stripes of broad red and blue and looked as though it had been made out of a stage-curtain. I would have paid a lot for a front seat, but there was no performance.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
The Waste Books
We are obliged to regard many of our original minds as crazy -- at least until we have become as clever as they are.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
"Notebook D", Aphorisms
Even truth needs to be clad in new garments if it is to appeal to a new age.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
"Notebook C", Aphorisms
If it is permissible to write plays that are not intended to be seen, I should like to see who can prevent me from writing a book no one can read.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
"Notebook F", Aphorisms
It is almost everywhere the case that soon after it is begotten the greater part of human wisdom is laid to rest in repositories.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
"Notebook K", Aphorisms
There is no greater impediment to progress in the sciences than the desire to see it take place too quickly.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
"Notebook K", Aphorisms
What I do not like about our definitions of genius is that there is in them nothing of the day of judgment, nothing of resounding through eternity and nothing of the footsteps of the Almighty.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
"Notebook E", Aphorisms
A handful of soldiers is always better than a mouthful of arguments.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
"Notebook E", Aphorisms
Is it so unjust that a man should leave the world by the same gate through which he entered it?
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
The Waste Books
One use of dreams is that, unprejudiced by our often forced and artificial reflections, they represent the impartial outcome of our entire being.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
"Notebook J", The Waste Books
He who says he hates all kinds of flattery, and says so in earnest, has undoubtedly not as yet become acquainted with all kinds of it, whether in substance or in form.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
The Reflections of Lichtenberg
It is we who are the measure of what is strange and miraculous: if we sought a universal measure the strange and miraculous would not occur and all things would be equal.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
"Notebook A", Aphorisms
The thoughts written on the walls of madhouses by their inmates might be worth publicizing.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
The Waste Books
A book which, above all others in the world, should be forbidden, is a catalogue of forbidden books.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
attributed, A Dictionary of Scientific Quotations
Before one blames, one should always find out whether one cannot excuse.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
"Notebook K", Aphorisms
There is something in the character of every man which cannot be broken in--the skeleton of his character; and to try to alter this is like training a sheep for draught purposes.
GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG
The Reflections of Lichtenberg