Friedrich Schlegel quotes - page 4

In the same way as philosophy loses sight of its true object and appropriate matter, when either it passes into and merges in theology, or meddles with external politics, so also does it mar its proper form when it attempts to mimic the rigorous method of mathematics. (Friedrich Schlegel)
Novels are the Socratic dialogs of our time. This free form has become the refuge of common sense in its flight from pedantry. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
Whoever hasn't yet arrived at the clear realization that there might be a greatness existing entirely outside his own sphere and for which he might have absolutely no feeling; whoever hasn't at least felt obscure intimations concerning the approximate location of this greatness in the geography of the human spirit: that person either has no genius in his own sphere, or else he hasn't been educated to the level of the classic. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
At the words "his philosophy, my philosophy,” one is always reminded of that line in Nathan: ... "What kind of God is it who belongs to a man?”. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
Romantic poetry ... recognizes as its first commandment that the will of the poet can tolerate no law above itself. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
Thou shalt not make unto thee any ideal, neither of an angel in heaven, nor of a hero in a poem or novel, nor one that is dreamed up or imagined: rather shalt thou love a man as he is. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
True virtue is genius. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
The Kantians' conception of duty relates to the commandment of honor, the voice of God and one's calling in us, as the dried plant to the fresh flower on the living stem. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
To give the community of artists a particular purpose would mean ... debasing the community of saints into a state. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
Only by being cultivated does a human being ... become altogether human and permeated by humanity. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
You wanted to destroy philosophy and poetry in order to make room for religion and morality. (Friedrich Schlegel)
In a perfect literature all books should be only a single book, and in such an eternally developing book, the gospel of humanity and culture will be revealed. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
Whatever can be done while poetry and philosophy are separated has been done and accomplished. So the time has come to unite the two. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
Take playfulness seriously, and you will apprehend what is at the center and rediscover your revered art in a more sublime light. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
India is not only at the origin of everything, she is superior in everything, intellectually, religiously or politically and even the Greek heritage seems pale in comparison. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
The historian is a reversed prophet. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
The Satan of the Italian and English poets may be poetic; but the German Satan is satanic; and thus one could say that Satan is a German invention. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
Religion is usually nothing but a supplement to or even a substitute for education, and nothing is religious in the strict sense which is not a product of freedom. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
A classical work doesn't ever have to be understood entirely. But those who are educated and who are still educating themselves must desire to learn more and more from it. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
God is each truly and exalted thing, therefore the individual himself to the highest degree. But are not nature and the world individuals? View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
There are writers in Germany who drink the Absolute like water; and there are books in which even the dogs make references to the Infinite. (Friedrich Schlegel)
Man is free whenever he produces or manifests God, and through this he becomes immortal. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
He who has religion will speak poetry. But philosophy is the tool with which to seek and discover religion. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
How many authors are there among writers? Author means originator. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel
Religion is not only a part of education, an element of humanity, but the center of everything else, always the first and the ultimate, the absolutely original. View quote
Friedrich Schlegel