"Lessing, who chafed under the sense of various limitations, makes one of his characters say: No one must do anything. A clever pious man said: If a man wills something, he must do it. A third, who was, it is true, an educated man, added: Will follows upon insight. The whole circle of knowledge, will, and necessity was thus believed to have been completed. But, as a rule, a man's knowledge, of whatever kind it may be, determines what he shall do and what he shall leave undone, and so it is that there is no more terrible sight than ignorance in action."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Poets from GermanyArt criticsPlaywrights from GermanyTheologians from GermanyPhilosophers from Germany
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Aphorism 52 from Maxims and Reflections 1906
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gotthold_Ephraim_Lessing
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
1729 – 1781
deutscher Dichter
84 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing →
Related Quotes
"For me the greatest beauty always lies in the greatest clarity."
"I, who ne'er Went for myself a begging, go a borrowing, And that for others. Borrowing's much the same As begging; ju…"
"The true value of a man is not determined by his possession, supposed or real, of Truth, but rather by his sincere ex…"
"If no historical truth can be demonstrated, then nothing can be demonstrated by means of historical truths. That is: …"
"Besserer Rat kommt über Nacht."
"Perlen bedeuten Tränen."
"The worst of superstitions is to think One's own most bearable."
"Und ein Vergnügen erwarten, ist auch ein Vergnügen."
"Denn zu einem großen Manne gehört beides: Kleinigkeiten als Kleinigkeiten, und wichtige Dinge als wichtige Dinge zu b…"
"Der Mensch, wo ist er her? Zu schlecht für einen Gott, zu gut fürs Ungefähr."