Top 75 Quotes by Georg C. Lichtenberg

To receive applause for works which do not demand all our powers hinders our advance towards a perfecting of our spirit. It usually means that thereafter we stand still.

Sickness is mankind's greatest defect.

Just as we outgrow a pair of trousers, we outgrow acquaintances, libraries, principles, etc., at times before they're worn out and times - and this is the worst of all - before we have new ones.

If all else fails, the character of a man can be recognized by nothing so surely as by a jest which he takes badly.

Delight at having understood a very abstract and obscure system leads most people to believe in the truth of what it demonstrates.

When an acquaintance goes by I often step back from my window, not so much to spare him the effort of acknowledging me as to spare myself the embarrassment of seeing that he has not done so.

To be content with life or to live merrily, rather all that is required is that we bestow on all things only a fleeting, superficial glance; the more thoughtful we become the more earnest we grow.

I am convinced we do not only love ourselves in others but hate ourselves in others too.

The most perfect ape cannot draw an ape; only man can do that; but, likewise, only man regards the ability to do this as a sign of superiority.

Erudition can produce foliage without bearing fruit.