| |
| Allzugrosse Zartheit der Gefühle ist ein wahres Unglück—It is a real misfortune to have too great delicacy of feeling. | 1 |
| Das Genie erfindet, der Witz findet bloss—Genius invents, wit merely finds. | 2 |
| Das Herz gleicht dem Mühlsteine der Mehl gibt, wenn man Korn aufshüttet, aber sich selbst zerreibt, wenn man es unterlasst—The heart is like a millstone, which yields meal if you supply it with grain, but frets itself away if you neglect to do so. | 3 |
| Der civilisierte Wilde ist der schlimmste aller Wilden—The civilised savage is the worst of all savages. | 4 |
| Despotismus ist der schwarze Punkt in aller Menschen Herzen—Despotism is the black spot in the hearts of all men. | 5 |
| Die Alten sind die einzigen Alten, die nie alt werden—The ancients (i.e., the Greeks and Romans) are the only ancients that never grow old. | 6 |
| Die grosse Moral—das Interesse, sagte Mirabeau, tötet in der Regel die kleine—das Gewissen—The great moral teacher, interest, as Mirabeau said, ordinarily slays conscience, the less. | 7 |
| Die Menschheit geben uns Vater und Mutter, die Menschlichkeit aber gibt uns nur die Erziehung—Human nature we owe to father and mother, but humanity to education alone. | 8 |
| Die Mode ist weiblichen Geschlechts, hat folglich ihre Launen—Mode is of the female sex, and has consequently their whims. | 9 |
| Es giebt Männer welche die Beredsamkeit weiblicher Zungen übertreffen, aber kein Mann besitzt die Beredsamkeit weiblicher Augen—There are men the eloquence of whose tongues surpasses that of women, but no man possesses the eloquence of women’s eyes. | 10 |
| Geschichte ist eigentlcih nichts anderes, als eine Satire auf die Menschheit—History is properly nothing else but a satire on humanity. | 11 |
| Gesellschaft ist die Grossmutter der Menschheit durch ihre Töchter, die Erfindungen—Society is the grandmother of humanity through her daughters, the inventions. | 12 |
| History is properly nothing but a satire on mankind. | 13 |
| Human nature (Menschheit) we owe to father and mother, but our humanity (Menschlichkeit) we owe to education. | 14 |
| In Rome the Ten Commandments consist of the ten letters, Da pecuniam, Give money. | 15 |
| Jealousy is the sister of love, as the devil is the brother of the angel. | 16 |
| Life is a disease (Krankheit), sleep a palliative, death the radical cure. | 17 |
| Life is a quarantine for Paradise. | 18 |
| Menschenkenntniss ist Unglaube an Tugend und Redlichkeit—A knowledge of mankind tends to induce a want of faith in virtue and probity. | 19 |
| Music is the true universal speech of mankind. | 20 |
| |
|
|
| |
| Musik ist die wahre allgemeine Menschensprache—Music is the true universal speech of mankind. | 21 |
| Schweigen können zeugt von Kraft, schweigen wollen von Nachsicht, schweigen müssen vom Geist der Zeit—To be able to be silent testifies of power, to will to be silent of indulgence, to be obliged to be silent of the spirit of the time. | 22 |
| Seelenstärke ohne Seelengrösse bildet die bösartigen Charakters—Strength of soul without greatness of soul goes but to form evil-disposed characters. | 23 |
| Society is the grandmother of humanity through her daughters the inventions. | 24 |
| St. Theresa right well defines the devil as an unfortunate who knows not what it is to love. | 25 |
| The civilised savage (Wilde) is the worst of all savages. | 26 |
| The Greeks and Romans are the only ancients who never become old. | 27 |
| The heart is like a millstone, which gives meat if you supply it with corn, but frets itself if you don’t. | 28 |
| To be able to be silent shows power; to be willing to be silent shows forbearance (Nachsicht); to be compelled to be silent shows the spirit of the time. | 29 |
| Wachsamkeit ist die Tugend des Lasters—Vigilance is the virtue of vice. | 30 |
| Was ist noch schlimmer als das Uebel? Wenn man es nicht zu ertragen weiss—“What is still worse than evil?” Inability to bear it. | 31 |
| What is not worth reading more than once is not worth reading at all. | 32 |
| Zu Rom bestehen die 10 Gebote aus den 10 Buchstaben; / Da pecuniam—gieb Gelder—At Rome the Ten Commandments consist of ten letters—Da pecuniam—Give money. | 33 |
| |
