List of Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel Quotes

The Two Basic Maxims Of The So-called Historical Criticism Are The Postulate Of The Common And The Axiom Of The Ordinary. Postulate Of The Common: Everything Really Great, Good, And Beautiful, Is Improbable, Since It Is Extraordinary And Therefore At Least Suspect. Axiom Of The Ordinary: Our Conditions And Environment Must Have Existed Everywhere, For They Are Really So Natural.

Good Drama Must Be Drastic.

Like Leibniz's Possible Worlds, Most Men Are Only Equally Entitled Pretenders To Existence. There Are Few Existences.

Nothing Truly Convincing - Which Would Possess Thoroughness, Vigor, And Skill - Has Been Written Against The Ancients As Yet; Especially Not Against Their Poetry.

Wit Is Absolutely Sociable Spirit Or Aphoristic Genius.

That Which Reminds Us Of Nature And Thus Stimulates A Feeling For The Infinite Abundance Of Life Is Beautiful. Nature Is Organic,and Therefore The Highest Beauty Is Forever Vegetative; And The Same Is True For Morality And Love.

Poetry Can Be Criticized Only Through Poetry. A Critique Which Itself Is Not A Work Of Art, Either In Content As Representation Of The Necessary Impression In The Process Of Creation, Or Through Its Beautiful Form And In Its Liberal Tone In The Spirit Of The Old Roman Satire, Has No Right Of Citizenship In The Realm Of Art.

Since Poetry Is Infinitely Valuable, I Do Not Understand Why It Should Be More Valuable Than This Or That Which Is Also Infinitelyvaluable. There Are Artists Who Perhaps Do Not Think Art To Be Too Great, For This Is Impossible, And Yet They Are Not Free Enough To Be Able To Rise Above Their Own Best Accomplishments.

The History Of Imitation Of The Older Literature, Particularly Abroad, Has Among Other Advantages This One, That The Important Concepts Of Unintentional Parody And Passive Wit Can Be Deduced From It Most Easily And Comprehensively.

There Are Three Kinds Of Explanation In Science: Explanations Which Throw A Light Upon, Or Give A Hint At A Matter; Explanations Which Do Not Explain Anything; And Explanations Which Obscure Everything.

If The Mystical Lovers Of The Arts, Who Consider All Criticism Dissection And All Dissection Destruction Of Enjoyment, Thought Logically, An Exclamation Like "goodness Alive!" Would Be The Best Criticism Of The Most Deserving Work Of Art. There Are Critiques Which Say Nothing But That, Only They Do So More Extensively.

Whoever Could Properly Characterize Goethe's Meister Would Have Actually Expressed What Is The Timely Trend In Literature. He Would Be Able, As Far As Literary Criticism Is Concerned, To Rest.