top of page
.png){kind=small}
Quotes by German Authors
"When the Jews speak of humanity, they mean only the totality of Jews."
"Death is the sanction of everything the story-teller can tell. He has borrowed his authority from death."
"Nothing truly valuable can be achieved except by the unselfish cooperation of many individuals."
"If then, Moses so distinctly announces that there is in us not only a faculty, but also a facility for keeping all commandments, why are we sweating so much? ... What need is there now of Christ or of Spirit? We have found a passage that asserts freedom of choice, but also distinctly teaches that the keeping of the commandments is easy."
"In nature, light creates the color. In the picture, color creates the light."
"The Priestly Code preponderates over the rest of the legislation in force, as well as in bulk; in all matters of primary importance it is the normal and final authority."
"The earthly form of Christ is the form that died on the cross. The image of God is the image of Christ crucified. It is to this image that the life of the disciples must be conformed; in other words, they must be conformed to his death (Phil 3.10, Rom 6.4) The Christian life is a life of crucifixion (Gal 2.19) In baptism the form of Christ's death is impressed upon his own. They are dead to the flesh and to sin, they are dead to the world, and the world is dead to them (Gal 6.14). Anybody living in the strength of Christ's baptism lives in the strength of Christ's death."
"A longing to wander tears my heart when I hear trees rustling in the wind at evening. If one listens to them silently for a long time, the longing reveals its kernel, its meaning. It is not so much a matter of escaping from one's suffering, though it may seem to be so. It is a longing for home, for a memory of the mother, for new metaphors for life. It leads home."
"The only sadnesses that are dangerous and unhealthy are the ones that we carry around in public in order to drown them out with the noise; like diseases that are treated superficially and foolishly, they just withdraw and after a short interval break out again all the more terribly; and gather inside us and are life, are life that is unlived, rejected, lost, life that we can die of."
"Faced with this general consideration it will immediately be realized on inquiry into the particular position occupied within this general scheme by the scientific field of catalysis that it is in the first stages of its development."
"The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking."
"One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity."
"We do not say: Being is, time is, but rather: there is Being and there is time."
"Understanding sometimes is not enough to explain something."
"Ego is the complete identification with form. Physical forms, thought forms, emotional forms."
"Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind."
"Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding."
"Treat a work of art like a prince. Let it speak to you first."
"For a man to achieve all that is demanded of him he must regard himself as greater than he is."
"If my theory of relativity is proven successful, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare me a citizen of the world. Should my theory prove untrue, France will say that I am a German, and Germany will declare that I am a Jew."
"Opposition always inflames the enthusiast, never converts him."
"Real style is not having a program - it's how one behaves in a crisis."
"Almost everything we call "higher culture" is based on the spiritualization of cruelty."
"Invisible threads are the strongest ties."
"The SS, as such, behaved no more criminally than any other social groups would behave when taking part in political events."
"The vast majority of Muslims living here are peaceful citizens. Unfortunately, however, we also see religious and political fanaticism among Muslim groups in Germany."
"All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason. There is nothing higher than reason."
"For, to be a stranger is naturally a very positive relation; it is a specific form of interaction."
"The longer a man's fame is likely to last, the longer it will be in coming."
"Do you remember how this life of yours longed in childhood to belong to the grown-ups? I can see that it now longs to move on from them and is drawn to those who are greater yet. That is why it does not cease to be difficult, but also why it will not cease to grow."
"Most of them are doomed to rapid extinction, but a few may make evolutionary inventions, such as physiological, ecological, or behavioral innovations that give these species improved competitive potential."
"A just person is one who is conformed and transformed into justice."
"The Fuhrer is always right. Every last citizen must say this."
"When they come to Europe, they are confronted by still closed borders. Thus, the concept of open borders is a very selective concept, one that is not taken seriously at all in the experience of non-Europeans."
"In the account book of the Great War the page recording the Russian losses has been ripped out. The figures are unknown. Five millions, or eight? We ourselves know not."
bottom of page