Friedrich Schiller Quotes
Friedrich Schiller was a German philosopher, poet, and playwright, the close collaborator of Goethe at Weimar and one of the most important Kantian thinkers of his generation. His Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man argues that aesthetic experience is the only form of human activity in which the demands of reason and the demands of sense are reconciled, and that the cultivation of beauty is therefore the precondition of political freedom. The quotes below are attributed to Friedrich Schiller, organized by topic.
Browse Friedrich Schiller by topic
Friedrich Schiller on Death
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“Die Räuber (The Robbers) , Act II (1781)”
I feel an army in my fist. -
“Die Verschwörung des Fiesco (The Conspiracy of Fiesco) , Act I, sc. vii (1783)”
The joke loses everything when the joker laughs himself. -
“Die Verschwörung des Fiesco (The Conspiracy of Fiesco) , Act I, sc. xviii (1783)”
Did you think the lion was sleeping because he didn't roar?
Friedrich Schiller on Freedom
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Attributed to Friedrich Schiller:
“Man is only fully human when he plays.”
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“Live with your century, but do not be its creature.”
Lebe mit deinem Jahrhundert, aber sei nicht sein Geschöpf; leiste deinen Zeitgenossen, aber was sie bedürfen, nicht was sie loben. -
Attributed to Friedrich Schiller:
“Beauty is freedom in appearance.”
Friedrich Schiller on God
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“The lemonade is weak, like your soul.”
Kabale und Liebe (Intrigue and Love) , Act V, sc. vii (1784)
Friedrich Schiller on Knowledge
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“I feel an army in my fist.”
Die Räuber (The Robbers) , Act II (1781) -
“To save all we must risk all.”
Fiesco, in Fiesco; or, the Genoese Conspiracy (1783) Act IV, Sc vi -
“Fiesco, in Fiesco; or, the Genoese Conspiracy (1783) Act IV, Sc vi”
To save all we must risk all. -
“The joke loses everything when the joker laughs himself.”
Die Verschwörung des Fiesco (The Conspiracy of Fiesco) , Act I, sc. vii (1783) -
“Did you think the lion was sleeping because he didn't roar?”
Die Verschwörung des Fiesco (The Conspiracy of Fiesco) , Act I, sc. xviii (1783)
Friedrich Schiller on Love
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Attributed to Friedrich Schiller:
“He who plants courtesy reaps friendship.”
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“Kabale und Liebe (Intrigue and Love) , Act V, sc. vii (1784)”
The lemonade is weak, like your soul.
Friedrich Schiller on Mind
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“Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.”
Die Jungfrau von Orleans (The Maid of Orleans) (1801), Act III, sc. vi (as translated by Anna Swanwick) | Variants of the most commonly quoted portion: Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain. Against stupidity the gods themselves labor in vain. Against stupidity the gods themselves fight unvictorious Against stupidity even the gods contend in vain. Against stupidity gods themselves
Friedrich Schiller on Truth
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Attributed to Friedrich Schiller:
“Truth lives on in the midst of deception.”