German

Explore 305 quotes originally in German

Man will err while yet he strives.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Faust

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Topic

Inevitability of mistakes Mistakes

Speaker

The Lord

Author

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Source

Faust

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play) Tragedy

Language

German

Time

1808 1800s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. "Prolog im Himmel [Prologue in Heaven: The Wager]." Faust. Eine Tragödie [Faust: A Tragedy]. Tübingen: J. G. Cotta’schen Buchhandlung, 1808.

Current Citation

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. "Prologue in Heaven." Faust, Part One, edited by David Luke. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.

Martin Luther

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of God God and man God

Author

Martin Luther

Genre

Religious literature

Language

German

Time

1529 1520s 16th century

Era

Protestant Reformation

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Luther, Martin. Der Große Katechismus [The Large Catechism]. Wittenberg, 1529, first commandant.

Current Citation

Luther, Martin. Luther's Large Catechism with Study Questions. Concordia Publishing House, 2010, first commandant.

The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.

Karl Marx

The Communist Manifesto

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Topic

Property rights Communism Political theory Politics

Author

Karl Marx

Source

The Communist Manifesto

Medium

Pamphlet

Genre

Political literature Economic literature

Language

German

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels [published anonymously]. Manifest der kommunistischen Partei [Manifesto of the Communist Party]. London: Gedruckt in der Office der Bildungs-Gesellschaft für Arbeiter, 1848.

Current Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto, translated by Samuel Moore and Friedrich Engels. Penguin Classics, 2002.

A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing.

Martin Luther

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

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Topic

God's protection Nature of God God

Author

Martin Luther

Source

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

Medium

Hymn Song

Genre

Religious literature

Language

German

Time

1529 1520s 16th century

Era

Protestant Reformation

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Luther, Martin. Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott [A Mighty Fortress Is Our God]. c. 1531.

Current Citation

Luther, Martin. "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." Lutheran Prayer Companion, translated by Matthew Carver. Concordia Publishing House, 2018.

The thought of suicide is a great source of comfort: with it a calm passage is to be made across many a bad night.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Beyond Good and Evil

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Topic

Suicide

Author

Friedrich Nietzsche

Source

Beyond Good and Evil

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1886 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Jenseits von Gut und Böse: Vorspiel einer Philosophie der Zukunft [Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future]. Leipzig: C. G. Naumann, 1886, ch. 4, no. 157.

Current Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond Good and Evil, translated by R. J. Hollingdale. Penguin Classics, 2003, ch. 4, no. 157.

Once a man's thirty, he's already old,
He is indeed as good as dead.
It's best to kill him right away.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Faust

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Topic

Stages of life

Speaker

Baccalaureus

Author

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Source

Faust

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play) Tragedy

Language

German

Time

1808 1800s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. Faust. Der Tragödie zweiter Teil [Faust. The Tragedy's Second Part]. 1832, act 2.

Current Citation

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. Faust: Part Two, translated by David Luke. Oxford University Press, 2008, act 2.

Morality is the herd-instinct in the individual.

Friedrich Nietzsche

The Gay Science

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Topic

Moral theory Morality Individual vs. the collective

Author

Friedrich Nietzsche

Source

The Gay Science

Medium

Poem

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1882 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Die frohliche Wissenschaft [The Gay Science]. Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner, 1882, bk. 3, no. 116.

Current Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Joyous Science, translated by R. Kevin Hill. Penguin Classics, 2019, bk. 3, no. 116.

All theory, dear friend, is grey, but the golden tree of actual life springs ever green.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Faust

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Topic

Life

Speaker

Mephistopheles

Author

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Source

Faust

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play) Tragedy

Language

German

Time

1808 1800s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. "Studiezimmer [Study Room]." Faust. Eine Tragödie [Faust: A Tragedy]. Tübingen: J. G. Cotta’schen Buchhandlung, 1808.

Current Citation

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. "Study Room." Faust, Part One, edited by David Luke. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Being totally honest with oneself is a good exercise.

Sigmund Freud

More information about this quote

Topic

Honesty Personal development

Author

Sigmund Freud

Medium

Letter

Statement Type

Advice

Language

German

Time

1897 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Freud, Sigmund. Letter to Wilhelm Fliess. 15 Oct. 1897.

Current Citation

Freud, Sigmund. The Complete Letters of Sigmund Freud to Wilhelm Fliess, 1887-1904, translated and edited by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson. Harvard University Press, 1985.

All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind.

Karl Marx

The Communist Manifesto

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Topic

Life under capitalism Capitalism

Author

Karl Marx

Source

The Communist Manifesto

Medium

Pamphlet

Genre

Political literature Economic literature

Language

German

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels [published anonymously]. Manifest der kommunistischen Partei [Manifesto of the Communist Party]. London: Gedruckt in der Office der Bildungs-Gesellschaft für Arbeiter, 1848.

Current Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto, translated by Samuel Moore and Friedrich Engels. Penguin Classics, 2002.

I have so much in me, and the feeling for her absorbs it all; I have so much, and without her it all comes to nothing.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The Sorrows of Young Werther

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Topic

Hopelessly in love Being in love Love

Author

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Source

The Sorrows of Young Werther

Medium

Novel

Genre

Epistolary novel

Language

German

Time

1774 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. Die Leiden des jungen Werthers [The Sorrows of Young Werther]. Leipzig: Weygand'sche Buchhandlung, 1774.

Current Citation

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. "The Sorrows of Young Werther." The Sorrows of Young Werther and Selected Writings, translated by Catherin Hutter. Signet, 2013.

Philosophy stands in the same relation to the study of the actual world as masturbation to sexual love.

Karl Marx

The German Ideology

More information about this quote

Topic

Philosophy Changing the world

Author

Karl Marx

Source

The German Ideology

Genre

Historical literature

Language

German

Time

1883 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. Die deutsche Ideologie [The German Ideology]. Marx–Engels–Lenin Institute, 1932.

Current Citation

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. The German Ideology. Prometheus, 1998.

The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

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Topic

Limits of language Language

Author

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Source

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

Medium

Treatise

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1922 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Wittgenstein, Ludwig. "Logisch-Philosophische Abhandlung [Logical-Philosophical Treatise]." Annalen der Naturphilosophie [Annales of Natural Philosophy], 1921.

Current Citation

Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, translated by Michael Beaney. Oxford University Press, 2023.

I call architecture frozen music.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

More information about this quote

Topic

Architecture

Author

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Language

German

Time

1829 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. "23 Mar. 1829." Gespräche mit Goethe [Conversations with Goethe]. Vol. 2, Leipzig: F. M. Brodhaus, 1836.

Current Citation

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. "March 23, 1829." Conversations with Goethe, translated by Allen Blunden. Penguin Classics, 2022.

Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess!

Ludwig van Beethoven

More information about this quote

Topic

Art

Author

Ludwig van Beethoven

Medium

Letter

Language

German

Time

1810 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Beethoven, Ludwig. Letter to Bettina Brentao (Bettina von Arnim). 11 Aug. 1810.

Current Citation

Beethoven, Ludwig. Beethoven's Letters. Dover Publications, 1972.

Individuality of expression is the beginning and end of all art.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

More information about this quote

Topic

Self-expression Art

Author

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Language

German

Time

1840 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. Spruche in Prosa Maximen und Reflexionen [Sayings in Prose, Maxims and Reflections]. 1819, no. 739.

Current Citation

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. Maxims and Reflections, translated by Elizabeth Stopp, edited by Peter Hutchinson. Penguin Books, 2005, no. 739.

What I did that was new was to prove... That the class struggle necessarily leads to the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Karl Marx

More information about this quote

Topic

Class conflict Communism Nature of history History

Author

Karl Marx

Medium

Letter

Language

German

Time

1852 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Marx, Karl. Letter to Joseph Weydemeyer. 5 Mar. 1852.

Current Citation

Marx, Karl. "Marx to Joseph Weydemeyer. 5 Mar. 1852." Marx & Engels Collected Works. Vol. 39, International Publishers, 1983.

Religion is illusion, and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires.

Sigmund Freud

New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis

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Topic

Religion

Author

Sigmund Freud

Source

New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis

Genre

Psychological literature

Language

German

Time

1933 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Freud, Sigmund. New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis, translated by James Strachey. W. W. Norton & Company, 1990, lecture 35. Originally published as Neue Folge der Vorlesungen zur Einfuhrung in die Psychoanalyse [New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-analysis]. Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag, 1933, lecture 35.

I never think of the future—it comes soon enough.

Albert Einstein

More information about this quote

Topic

The future Being present The present

Speaker

Albert Einstein

Medium

Interview

Language

German

Time

1930 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Einstein, Albert. Quoted in "Clearfield Progress, Would Take Three Days to Make Simple Explanation of Theories, Says Einstein," by David P. Sentner, I. N. S. (International News Service) Correspondent. Quote Page 1, Column 1, Clearfield, Pennsylvania. 12 Dec. 1930.

When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

Franz Kafka

The Metamorphosis

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Topic

Transformation Change Alienation from oneself Alienation

Author

Franz Kafka

Source

The Metamorphosis

Medium

Novel

Genre

Modernist literature

Statement Type

Opening lines

Language

German

Time

1915 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Kafka, Franz. Die Verwandlung [The Metamorphosis]. Verlag, 1915, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis, translated by Susan Bernofsky. W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, ch. 1.