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Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
13 quotes
“Was ist ein Held ohne Menschenliebe?”
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) first seen 1759 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Philotas (1759), Act 1, Scene 7
“Denn zu einem großen Manne gehört beides: Kleinigkeiten als Kleinigkeiten, und wichtige Dinge als wichtige Dinge zu behandeln.”
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) first seen 1767 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hamburgische Dramaturgie (1767 - 1769), Vierunddreißigstes Stück Den 25. August 1767
“Perlen bedeuten Tränen.”
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) first seen 1772 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Emilia Galotti (1772), Act II, scene VIII
“Besserer Rat kommt über Nacht.”
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) first seen 1772 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Emilia Galotti (1772), Act IV, scene III
“Und ein Vergnügen erwarten, ist auch ein Vergnügen.”
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) first seen 1763 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Minna von Barnhelm (1763), , Act IV, scene VI
“If no historical truth can be demonstrated, then nothing can be demonstrated by means of historical truths. That is: accidental truths of history can never become the proof of necessary truths of reason. [...] That, then, is the ugly, broad ditch which I cannot get across, however often and however earnestly I have tried to make the leap.”
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) first seen 1777 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Proof of the Spirit and of Power" (1777), in Lessing's Theological Writings, selected and translated by Henry Chadwick (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1957), pp. 53 and 55
“I, who ne'er Went for myself a begging, go a borrowing, And that for others. Borrowing's much the same As begging; just as lending upon usury Is much the same as thieving.”
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) first seen 1779 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Nathan the Wise (1779), Act II, scene II
Also quoted by: Doris Lessing (misattributed)
“The worst of superstitions is to think One's own most bearable.”
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) first seen 1779 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Nathan the Wise (1779), Act IV, scene II
Also quoted by: Doris Lessing (misattributed)
“Der Mensch, wo ist er her? Zu schlecht für einen Gott, zu gut fürs Ungefähr.”
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) said by 1781 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern English and Foreign Sources (1899) by James Wood, p. 61
“Trust no friend without faults, and love a maiden, but no angel.”
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) said by 1781 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, as quoted in Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern English and Foreign Sources (1899) by James Wood, p. 499
Also quoted by: Doris Lessing (misattributed)
“Es ist unendlich schwer, zu wissen, wenn und wo man bleiben soll, und Tausenden für einen ist das Ziel ihres Nachdenkens die Stelle, wo sie des Nachdenkens müde geworden.”
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) first seen 1771 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Moses Mendelssohn, January 9, 1771
“Eben die Bahn, aus welcher das Geschlecht zu seiner Vollkommenheit gelangt, muß jeder einzelne Mensch (der früher, der später) erst durchlaufen haben.”
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) said by 1781 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The true value of a man is not determined by his possession, supposed or real, of Truth, but rather by his sincere exertion to get to the Truth. It is not possession of the Truth, but rather the pursuit of Truth by which he extends his powers and in which his ever-growing perfectibility is to be found. Possession makes one passive, indolent, and proud. If God were to hold all Truth concealed in his right hand, and in his left only the steady and diligent drive for Truth, albeit with the proviso that I would always and forever err in the process, and offer me the choice, I would with all humility take the left hand, and say: Father, I will take this one—the pure Truth is for You alone.”
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) first seen 1778 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Anti-Goeze (1778), as quoted in God Is Not Great (2007), by Christopher Hitchens , Ch. 19