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Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel Quotes

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Famous Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel Quotes

“An artist is he who has his center within himself. He who lacks this must choose a particular leader and mediator outside of himself, not forever, however, but only at first. For man cannot exist without a living center, and if he does not have it within himself, he may seek it only in a human being. Only a human being and his center can stimulate and awaken that of another.”

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Author:Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
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“Whoever has not arrived at the clear insight that there might be greatness entirely outside his own sphere for which he has no understanding, whoever does not have at least a dim inkling in which area of the human spirit this greatness might be situated: he is within his own sphere either without genius, or he has not educated himself up to the point of the classical attitude.”

HumansDoeMightSpiritUnderstandingAttitudeClearGreatnessGeniusAreasInsightEducatedSpheresHuman Spirit
Author:Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
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“In England, wit is at least a profession, if not an art. everything becomes professional there, and even the rogues of that islandare pedants. So are the "wits" there too. They introduce into reality absolute freedom whose reflection lends a romantic and piquant air to wit, and thus they live wittily; hence their talent for madness. They die for their principles.”

IfsArtRealityDiesPrinciplesAirTalentReflectionMadnessEnglandAbsolutesProfessionWitIntroducingRoguesAbsolute FreedomPedants
Author:Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
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“If one writes or reads novels from the point of view of psychology, it is very inconsistent and petty to want to shy away from even the slowest and most detailed analysis of the most unnatural lusts, gruesome tortures, shocking infamy, and disgusting sensual or spiritual impotence.”

IfsWantWritingSpiritualViewsNovelPsychologyPoint Of ViewLustSensualAnalysisTortureShyDisgustingShockingPettyUnnaturalInconsistentImpotenceInfamy
Author:Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
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“If the essence of cynicism consists in preferring nature to art, virtue to beauty and science; in not bothering about the letter of things -- to which the Stoic strictly adheres -- but in looking up to the spirit of things; in absolute contempt of all economic values and political splendor, and in courageous defence of the rights of independent freedom; then Christianity would be nothing but universal cynicism.”

IfsArtWould BePoliticalSpiritValuesChristianityVirtueRightsEconomicLettersEssenceUniversalAbsolutesIndependentBotherCourageousContemptCynicismDefenceSplendorStoicEconomic Value
Author:Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
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“There are ancient and modern poems which breathe, in their entirety and in every detail, the divine breath of irony. In such poemsthere lives a real transcendental buffoonery. Their interior is permeated by the mood which surveys everything and rises infinitely above everything limited, even above the poet's own art, virtue, and genius; and their exterior form by the histrionic style of an ordinary good Italian buffo.”

ArtRealFormVirtueModernStyleDivinePoetGeniusOrdinaryBreathsAncientDetailsBreatheMoodIronyItalianInteriorsSurveysExteriorTranscendentalEntiretyHistrionic
Author:Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
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“The naive which is simultaneously beautiful, poetic, and idealistic, must be both intention and instinct. The essence of intention, in this sense, is freedom. Consciousness is far from intention. There is a certain enamoured contemplation of one's own naturalness or silliness which itself is unspeakably silly. Intention does not necessarily require a profound calculation or plan.”

DoeBeautifulCertainConsciousnessPlansEssenceIntentionInstinctProfoundSillyContemplationPoeticNaiveCalculationsIdealisticSilliness
Author:Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
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“We should never invoke the spirit of antiquity as our authority. Spirits are peculiar things; they cannot be grasped with the hands and be held up before others. Spirits reveal themselves only to spirits. The most direct and concise method would be, in this case as well, to prove the possession of the only redeeming faith by good works.”

ShouldWellsHandsWould BeSpiritCasesProveAuthorityDirectMethodPossessionPeculiarGood WorkAntiquityInvokeRedeemingConcise
Author:Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
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“The most important thing in love is the sense for one another, and the highest thing the faith in one another. Devotion is the expression of that faith, and pleasure can revive and enhance that sense, even if not create it, as is commonly thought. Therefore, sensuality can delude bad persons for a short time into thinking they could love each other.”

IfsThinkingPersonsImportantLove IsPleasureExpressionHighestImportant ThingsDevotionSensualityLove Each OtherShort TimeRevive
Author:Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
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