Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Quotes & Sayings

The superstition in which we were brought up never loses its power over us, even after we understand it. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Let each man say what he deems truth, and let truth itself be commended unto God. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Nature meant woman to be her masterpiece. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

It's easier to swoon in pious dreams Than do good actions. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Who cannot resolve upon a moment's notice To live his own life, he forever lives A slave to others. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

A heretic is a man who sees with his own eyes. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Absolute truth belongs to Thee alone. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Why should not every individual man have existed more than once upon this world? Why should I not come back as often as I am capable of acquiring fresh knowledge? Is this hypothesis so laughable merely because it is the oldest? Because the human understanding, before the sophistries of the schools had dissipated and debilitated it, lighted upon it at once? — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

It is open to every man to choose the direction of his striving," he explained, "and every man may take comfort from the fine saying that the search for truth is more precious than its possession."70 — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The real beggar is indeed the true and only king. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The searcher's eye Not seldom finds more than he wished to find. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Would that we could at once paint with the eyes! In the long way from the eye through the arm to the pencil, how much is lost! — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

It is not the truth that a man possesses, or believes that he possesses, but the earnest effort which he puts forward to reach the truth, which constitutes the worth of a man. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Nature intended that woman should be her masterpiece. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

They make glorious shipwreck who are lost in seeking worlds. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Where wildness and disorder are visible in the dance, there Satan, death and all kinds of mischief are likewise upon the floor. For this reason I could wish that the dance of death were painted on the walls of all ball-rooms in order to warn the dancers, not by the levity of their deportment, to provoke the God of righteousness to visit them with a sudden judgment. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The most deadly fruit is borne by the hatred which one grafts on an extinguished friendship. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

A blush is the sign which Nature hangs out to show where chastity and honor dwell. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The end-purpose of all art is enjoyment! — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Ein einziger dankbarer Gedanke gen Himmel ist das vollkommenste Gebet. One single grateful thought raised to heaven is the most perfect prayer. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The true value of 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 Truth by which he extends his powers and in which his ever-growing perfectability 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 to offer me the choice, I would with all humility take the left hand. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

My God, grant that my bounty may be a clear and transparent river, flowing from pure charity, and uncontaminated by self-love, ambition, or interest. Thanks are due not to me, but Thee, from whom all I possess is derived. And what are the paltry gifts for which my neighbor forgets to thank me, compared with the immense blessings for which I have so often forgotten to be grateful to Thee! — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The search for truth is more precious than its possession. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

For the will and not the gift makes the giver. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

To borrow scarce is better than to beg; As lending, lending upon interest, Scarce better is than stealing. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

He who doesn't lose his wits over certain things has no wits to lose. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Well was it said by a man of sagacity that dancing was a sort of privileged and reputable folly, and that the best way to be convinced of this was to close the ears and judge of it by the eyes alone. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The more we see the more we must be able to imagine, and the more we imagine, the more we must think we see. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

We moderns do not believe in demigods, but our smallest hero we expect to feel and act as a demigod. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

What education is to the individual, revelation is to the whole human race. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Pleasures, riches, honor and joy are sure to have care, disgrace, adversity and affliction in their train. There is no pleasure without pain, no joy without sorrow. O the folly of expecting lasting felicity in a vale of tears, or a paradise in a ruined world. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Let the devil catch you but by a single hair, and you are his forever. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

If the advice of a fool for once happens to be good, it requires a wise man to carry it out. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Resist as much as thou wilt; heaven's ways are heaven's ways. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

With a clear sky, a bright sun, and a gentle breeze, you will have friends in plenty; but let fortune frown, and the firmament be overcast, and then your friends will prove like the strings of the lute, of which you will tighten ten before you find one that will bear the stretch and keep the pitch. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The true vagrant is the only king above all comparison. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

A single grateful thought toward heaven is the most perfect prayer. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Nothing under the sun is accidental, least of all that of which the intention is so clearly evident. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

How can such deep-imprinted images sleep in us at times, till a word, a sound, awake them? — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

It is not children only that one feeds with fairy tales. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

As the stag which the huntsman has hit flies through bush and brake, over stock and stone, thereby exhausting his strength but not expelling the deadly bullet from his body; so does experience show that they who have troubled consciences run from place to place, but carry with them wherever they go their dangerous wounds. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

But how many moments are already past!
Ah! who thinks of those that are past? — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The superstition in which we grew up, Though we may recognize it, does not lose Its power over us.-Not all are free Who make mock of their chains. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Pure truth is for God alone. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

I, who ne'erWent for myself a begging, go a borrowing,And that for others. Borrowing's much the sameAs begging; just as lending upon usuryIs much the same as thieving. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

It is medicine, not poison, I offer you. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

One can drink too much, but one never drinks enough. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The gift of prayer is not always at our command. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

A man who does not lose his reason over certain things has none to lose. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

I know not whether there exists such a thing as a coin stamped with a pair of pinions; but I wish this were the device which monarchs put upon their dollars and ducats, to show that riches make to themselves wings, and fly away. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Nothing under the sun is ever accidental. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The lion is ashamed, it's true, when he hunts with the fox. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

When the heart dares to speak, it needs no preparation. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

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. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Let us be lazy in everything, except in loving and drinking, except in being lazy. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

What can the Creator see with greater pleasure than a happy creature? — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

For me the greatest beauty always lies in the greatest clarity. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Think wrongly, if you please, but in all cases think for yourself. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Joy makes us giddy, dizzy. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Yesterday I lived, today I suffer, tomorrow I die; but I still think fondly, today and tomorrow, of yesterday. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Did the Almighty, holding in his right hand truth, and in his left hand search after truth, deign to proffer me the one I might prefer, in all humility, but without hesitation, I should request search after truth. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

If some things don't make you lose your sense of reason, then you have none to lose. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

To look forward to pleasure is also a pleasure. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

It is not I who die, when I die, but my sin and misery. — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing