9 Quotes by Egon Friedell

Electricity and magnetism are those forces of nature by which people who know nothing about electricity and magnetism can explain everything.

The artist’s view of the world and mankind is that which seeks as far as possible to lose itself in its object, illuminating it not from the outside by some light foreign to it, but from within, deriving light from its own core.

Art is the subjective, preferential treatment of certain elements of reality; it selects and resets, distributes light and shade, omits and underlines, softens and emphasises.

God does not rule the world outwardly by gravitation and chemical affinity, but inwardly in the heart of man: as is your soul, so will the destiny be of the world in which you live and do.

Clothe an idea in words and it loses its freedom of movement.

All knowing that goes beyond the immediate experience of the moment is a matter of faith.

We can never see the world other than incompletely: deliberately to see it as incomplete is to create an artistic aspect.

The worst prejudice we acquire during our youth is the idea that life is serious. Children have the right instincts: they know that life is not serious, and treat it as a game...

Artists of all sorts remain youthful for so long, and in many cases attain a grand old age. The explanation is that they live in an almost permanent condition of stimulation and excitement.