He who is in love with himself has at least this advantage – he won’t encounter many rivals in his love. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
The finest satire is that in which ridicule is combined with so little malice and so much conviction that it even rouses laughter in those who are hit. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
It is a golden rule not to judge men by their opinions but rather by what their opinions make of them. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Everyone is a genius at least once a year. The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Most subjects at universities are taught for no other purpose than that they may be re-taught when the students become teachers. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
The greatest events occur without intention playing any part in them; chance makes good mistakes and undoes the most carefully planned undertaking. The world’s greatest events are not produced, they happen. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Actual aristocracy cannot be abolished by any law: all the law can do is decree how it is to be imparted and who is to acquire it. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Before we blame we should first see whether we cannot excuse. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
When an acquaintance goes by I often step back from my window, not so much to spare him the effort of acknowledging me as to spare myself the embarrassment of seeing that he has not done so. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Affectation is a very good word when someone does not wish to confess to what he would none the less like to believe of himself. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Astronomy is perhaps the science whose discoveries owe least to chance, in which human understanding appears in its whole magnitude, and through which man can best learn how small he is. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg