The Greeks possessed a knowledge of human nature we seem hardly able to attain to without passing through the strengthening hibernation of a new barbarism.
Georg C. LichtenbergRead
A book is a mirror: if an ape looks into it an apostle is hardly likely to look out.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes that one's outlook is shaped by one's understanding and nature.
Georg C. Lichtenberg's quote suggests that a book, much like a mirror, reflects the readerβs own character and intellect. If a person lacking wisdom and insight engages with a text, they will likely extract superficial or misguided interpretations, much like an ape would, while a wise person, akin to an apostle, would garner profound insights. It serves as a reminder that the value we receive from literature is deeply influenced by our own mindset and experience.
Themes
BooksReadingWisdomInsightCharacter
In practice
Example use cases
During a book club meeting to emphasize the importance of perspective.
More from Georg C. Lichtenberg
All quotes βMany things about our bodies would not seem to us so filthy and obscene if we did not have the idea of nobility in our heads.
Georg C. LichtenbergRead
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 C. LichtenbergRead
The thoughts written on the walls of madhouses by their inmates might be worth publicizing.
Georg C. LichtenbergRead
The noble simplicity in the works of nature only too often originates in the noble shortsightedness of him who observes it.
Georg C. LichtenbergRead
Food probably has a very great influence on the condition of men. Wine exercises a more visible influence, food does it more slowly but perhaps just as surely. Who knows if a well-prepared soup was not responsible for the pneumatic pump or a poor one for a war?
Georg C. LichtenbergRead
Similar quotes
When asked for advice by beginners. Know your ending, I say, or the river of your story may finally sink into the desert sands and never reach the sea.
Isaac AsimovRead
I let the argument rip healthily between the departments. This is a very good way to finding out the truth.
Winston ChurchillRead
Cash never makes us happy, but it's better to have the money burning a hole in Berkshire's pocket than resting comfortably in someone else's.
Warren BuffettRead
I never said I was an angel. Nor am I innocent or holy like the Virgin Mary. What I am is natural and serious and as sensitive as an open nerve on an ice cube.
Sister SouljahRead
I'm not out to preach. I just live my own life. I'm very happy if I can help somebody - that's wonderful. But it's up to them what they want to think about it or what they want to take away; it's their business, not mine.
Iris ApfelRead
It is only when the formed learns from the unformed that there is understanding.
ZhuangziRead