Georg C. Lichtenberg Quotes

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Georg C. Lichtenberg

Profession : Scientist

Birth : July 1, 1742

If you are going to build something in the air it is always better to build castles than houses of cards.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

The American who first discovered Columbus made a bad discovery.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

Man is a masterpiece of creation if for no other reason than that, all the weight of evidence for determinism notwithstanding, he believes he has free will.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

Nothing is more conducive to peace of mind than not having any opinion at all.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

We accumulate our opinions at an age when our understanding is at its weakest.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

God created man in His own image, says the Bible; philosophers reverse the process: they create God in theirs.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

He who is in love with himself has at least this advantage - he won't encounter many rivals.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

There are very many people who read simply to prevent themselves from thinking.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

Nothing makes one old so quickly as the ever-present thought that one is growing older.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

Man is to be found in reason, God in the passions.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

There exists a species of transcendental ventriloquism by means of which men can be made to believe that something said on earth comes from Heaven.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

To do the opposite of something is also a form of imitation, namely an imitation of its opposite.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

Men still have to be governed by deception.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

The sure conviction that we could if we wanted to is the reason so many good minds are idle.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

Once we know our weaknesses they cease to do us any harm.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

To be content with life or to live merrily, rather all that is required is that we bestow on all things only a fleeting, superficial glance; the more thoughtful we become the more earnest we grow.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

The fly that doesn't want to be swatted is most secure when it lights on the fly-swatter.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

That man is the noblest creature may also be inferred from the fact that no other creature has yet contested this claim.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

Virtue by premeditation isn't worth much.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

With a pen in my hand I have successfully stormed bulwarks from which others armed with sword and excommunication have been repulsed.

Georg C. Lichtenberg