Art is a seductive, forbidden fruit; whoever has tasted its innermost, sweetest juice is irretrievably lost to the active, living world. He creeps further and further into his own self-gratification and his hand totally loses the capacity to extend itself effectively to a fellow creature.

Phantasien über die Kunst [Fantasies about art] (1799), A letter from Joseph Berglinger

Joseph Berglinger is an imaginary musician and a spokesman for Wackenroder’s views on art.