Karl Wilhelm Friedrich SchlegelThinkers

An Aphorism is to be entirely isolated from the surrounding world like a little work of art. It is complete in itself like a hedgehog.

An Artist is he for whom the goal and center of life is to form his mind.

An Author is an originator. As such, it can be said that there are few authors among writers.

Authorship is an infamy, a pastime, a day-labor, a handicraft, an art, a science, a virtue.

Beauty is simultaneously attractive and sublime.

Education is that which brings complexity to our person. Every uneducated person is a caricature of himself.

The Family is a microcosm of mankind more generally. Within the family minds become organically one, and for this reason the family is total poetry.

Genius is to be sure, not a matter of arbitrariness, but rather of freedom, just as wit, love, and faith, which once shall become arts and disciplines. We should demand genius from everybody, without, however, expecting it.

The Historian is a prophet turned towards the past.

Irony is a clear consciousness of an eternal agility, of the infinitely abundant chaos.

Irony is the form of paradox insofar as paradox is what is good and great at the same time.