Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made.

Aus so krummem Holze, als woraus der Mensch gemacht ist, kann nichts ganz Gerades gezimmert werden.

Immanuel Kant

More information about this quote

Topic

Imperfection Human nature

Author

Immanuel Kant

Source

Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose

Medium

Essay

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

German

Time

1784 1780s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Occupation

Philosopher Writer

From

Russia Europe

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Kant, Immanuel. "Idee zu einer allgemeinen Geschichte in weltbürgerlicher Absicht [Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose]." Berlinische Monatsschrift, Nov. 1784.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Immanuel Kant about imperfection: “Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made.”
Download
A quote by Immanuel Kant about imperfection: “Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made.”
Download
A quote by Immanuel Kant about imperfection: “Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made.”
Download

Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1780s

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

Thomas Jefferson

Read this letter at the National Archives website
More information about this quote
Topic
Freedom Political violence

Author

Thomas Jefferson
Medium
Letter
Statement Type
Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
English
Time
1787 1780s 18th century
Era
American Revolutionary Period
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. Letter to William Stephens Smith. 13 Nov. 1787.

Current Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. "Col. Smith, Nov. 13, 1787." The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Including the Autobiography, The Declaration of Independence & His Public and Private Letters, edited by Adrienne Koch and William Peden. Modern Library, 1998.

Another quote about Human nature

The tyrant grinds down his slaves and they don't turn against him; they crush those beneath them.

Emily Brontë

Wuthering Heights

Buy Wuthering Heights at Amazon Buy Wuthering Heights at Amazon
Read Wuthering Heights at Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Shit rolls downhill Human nature
Speaker
Heathcliff

Author

Emily Brontë
Source
Wuthering Heights
Medium
Novel
Statement Type
Paradox
Language
English
Time
1847 1840s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Brontë, Emily, [published as Ellis Bell]. Wuthering Heights. Vol. 1, London: Thomas Cautley Newby, 1847, ch. 11.

Current Citation

Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights, edited by Alexandra Lewis. W. W. Norton & Company, 2019, ch. 11.

Another quote from Age of Enlightenment

Censorship is crucial for preserving morals but useless for restoring them.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The Social Contract

Buy The Social Contract at Amazon Buy The Social Contract at Amazon
Read The Social Contract at Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Censorship Morality

Author

Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Source
The Social Contract
Genre
Political literature Philosophical literature
Language
French
Time
1762 1760s 18th century
Era
Age of Enlightenment
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Du contrat social ou Principes du droit politique [On the Social Contract or Principles of Political Law]. Amsterdam: Marc Michel Rey, 1762, bk. 4, ch. 7.

Current Citation

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. "Of the Social Contract." Of the Social Contract and Other Political Writings, translated by Quintin Hoare. Penguin Classics, 2012, bk. 4, ch. 7.

Another quote originally in German

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

Buy Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus at Amazon Buy Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus at Amazon
More information about this quote
Topic
Limits of language Language

Author

Ludwig Wittgenstein
Source
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
German
Time
1921 1920s 20th century
Authentication Score 2
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.

Another quote of the following type Metaphor, analogy and simile

As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more.

Psalm 103:15-16

Buy the Bible (NKJV) at Amazon Buy the Bible (NKJV) at Amazon
Read this verse at Bible Hub
More information about this quote
Topic
Ephemeral nature of life Shortness of life The human condition
Source
Psalms The Bible
Medium
Scripture
Genre
Religious literature
Statement Type
Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
Hebrew
Time
450 BC 450s BC 5th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 3
Citation

The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Thomas Nelson, 1982. (Psalm 103:15-16).