|
All
Kinds of Thoughts
by Georg Christoph
Lichtenberg
The intercourse with reasonable people is
advisable to everybody because, in this way, a
blockhead can become wise by imitation, for the
greatest blockheads can imitate, even apes and
elephants can do it.
You must not allow your reading to dominate you
but you should dominate your reading.
Before one blames, one should always find out
whether one cannot excuse. To discover little
faults has been always the particularity of such
brains that are a little or not at all above the
average. The superior ones keep quiet or say
something against the whole and the great minds
transform without blaming.
Do not have too artificial an idea of man but
judge him naturally. Don't consider him too good or
too bad. It is a golden rule that one should not
judge people according to their opinions, but
according to what these opinions make of them.
Popularizing should always be done in such a
manner that one would elevate people by it. If one
stoops down, one should always take care of
elevating even those people to whom one
descends.
The inclination of people to consider small
things as important has produced many great
things.
People don't think so differently about the
events of life as they talk about them.
We live in a world in which one fool makes many
fools but one wise man only a few wise men.
The highest point a poor brain can reach from
experience is the ability to find out the
weaknesses of superior people.
Concerning the body, there are at least as many,
if not more, imaginary sick as really sick people.
Concerning the mind, there are as many, if not
more, imaginary sane people as really sane
ones.
The late M. who had a Catholic maid, once told
me entirely bona fide: This person is a Catholic,
it is true, but she is an honest, good soul.
Recently she committed a perjury on my behalf.
There are people than can believe everything
they want. These are happy creatures.
People that never have time do the least of
all.
How happy would many people live if they cared
about other people's affairs as little as about
their own.
One should never trust a person who, while
assuring you of something, puts his hands on his
heart.
Excerpted from Selected
Writings of Georg C. Lichtenberg (edited by
Adolf Wilbrandt - 1893)
|