German Author Quotes

For many call Thee Father, who
Will not own me as brother too.

Walther von der Vogelweide

Indian monks were the first to choose the garden as the proper setting for their lives, which were devoted to the
contemplation of the divine; but with a prophetic eye we may see that the garden will often be dedicated in a
like manner: at a later time Greek philosophers, and monks in early Christian days, will retire into their
gardens for united, yet silent, contemplation.

Marie-Luise Gothein

You were talking to that niche in the wall again, Gwyneth. I saw you." "Yes, but it's my favorite bit of wall, Gordon. I'd hurt its feelings if I didn't stop and talk to it.

Take, O boatman, thrice thy fee,—
Take, I give it willingly;
For, invisible to thee,
Spirits twain have crossed with me.

I am firmly convinced that all art will become dadaistic in the course of time, because from Dada proceeds the perpetual urge for its renovation.

Richard Huelsenbeck

When it comes to clichés, the Germans are extremely diligent, efficient and disciplined about living up to them.

Rainer Erlinger

Wednesdays were the best thing about Atlantis. The middle of the week was a traditional holiday there. Everyone stopped work and celebrated the fact that half the week was over.

And so the little girl grew up: her skin was as white as snow, her cheeks as rosy as the blood, and her hair as black as ebony.

Germany, Germany above everything,
Above everything in the world,
When, for protection and defense, it always
takes a brotherly stand together.
From the Meuse to the Neman,
From the Adige to the Belt,

August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben

We must rouse in our people the unanimous wish for power in this sense, together with the determination to sacrifice on the altar of patriotism, not only life and property, but also private views and preferences in the interests of the common welfare.

Friedrich von Bernhardi

Mirror, mirror, here I stand. Who is the fairest in the land?

Oh! make me Thine forever;
And should I fainting be,
Lord! let me never, never,
Outlive my love to Thee!

People and nations could live in grace
but for two little words, "mine" and "yours".

Gottfried von Strassburg

When at night I go to sleep,
Fourteen angels watch do keep.
Two stand here beside me,
Two stand there to guide me…
Two more light the path to heaven!

The best Medicine: Joy and Temperance and Repose
Slam the door on the doctor's nose.

Friedrich von Logau

Only he who bestirs himself can advance spiritually. The fool who uses extraneous aids for this, in the form of the ready-made opinions of others, only walks his path as if on crutches, while ignoring his own healthy limbs.

I encouraged them, each who was able, to serve the Fatherland... I have done this [volunteered] because I believe I must be a good example for my community.

Clemens August Graf von Galen

But the involuntary tricks of memory and the voluntary ones of imagination make always such terrible havoc of facts that truth, be it ever so much sought and cared for, appears in history and biography only in a more or less disfigured condition.

Frederick Niecks

Lots of things take time, and time was Momo's only form of wealth.

Not alone is the child born through the mother, but the mother also is born through the child.

Gertrud von Le Fort

This isn't the end, and a beginning looks different. This is the moment in between, when everything still looks possible.

When Lawrence first found a gentian, a big single blue one, I remember feeling as if he had a strange communion with it, as if the gentian yielded up its blueness, its very essence, to him. Everything he met had the newness of a creation just that moment come into being.

Frieda Lawrence

Averages might mean something to bureaucrats and engineers, but the sea had no struck with statistics: it was a succession of unpredictable circumstances and extremes.

Frank Schätzing

Watch out for people who feel weak. They may want to feel strong one day and you might not survive that moment.

It's always hard when you've known a person a long time and then you have to recognise that you have nothing left in common but your memories.