269 Quotes by Franz Grillparzer

Distinctly different as a child, as an adolescent, in his prime and in his old age, man considers himself as one, not because he acts, but because he knows.

Those who want to row on the ocean of human knowledge do not get far, and the storm drives those out of their course who set sail.

Why must ancients, and provided the same talent, be better than modern authors? Free to exploit the vast realm of the simpleand the natural, they did not have to be artificial in order to be original (which every artist aspires to be).

Is it true that one travels in order to know mankind? It is easier to get to know other people at home, but abroad one gets to know oneself.

Without a notion of the transcendental, human beings would, indeed, be animals; however, only fools can be convinced of it, and only degenerates need such a conviction.

The manifestation of poetry in external life is formal perfection. True sentiment grows within, and art must represent internal phenomena externally.

Our age believed herself pregnant with auspicious progeny, but when her hour came, it turned out to be dropsy.

The ideas of an age are most abundant where they are not crowded by original ideas.

Science and art, or by the same token, poetry and prose differ from one another like a journey and an excursion. The purpose of the journey is its goal, the purpose of an excursion is the process.