Art is the daughter of freedom.
Friedrich SchillerRead
Ever building, building to the clouds, still building higher, and never reflecting that the poor narrow basis cannot sustain the giddy tottering column.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Ambition can lead us to chase great heights without considering the stability of our foundations.
In this quote, Friedrich Schiller explores the dangers of unchecked ambition and the pursuit of lofty goals without a solid foundation. He warns that striving to reach great heights—represented by building higher and higher—can lead to instability if we do not take into account the limitations of what supports our aspirations, symbolized by the 'poor narrow basis' which may not be able to sustain such aspirations.
Themes
AmbitionFoundationGoalsStabilitySuccess
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech discussing the importance of planning and stability in business.
More from Friedrich Schiller
All quotes →There is no such thing as chance; and what seem to us merest accident springs from the deepest source of destiny.
Friedrich SchillerRead
Who dares nothing, need hope for nothing.
Friedrich SchillerRead
While the womanly god demands our veneration, the godlike woman kindles our love; but while we allow ourselves to melt in the celestial loveliness, the celestial self-sufficiency holds us back in awe.
Friedrich SchillerRead
As noble Art has survived noble nature, so too she marches ahead of it, fashioning and awakening by her inspiration. Before Truth sends her triumphant light into the depths of the heart, imagination catches its rays, and the peaks of humanity will be glowing when humid night still lingers in the valleys.
Friedrich SchillerRead
Wise to resolve, patient to perform.
Friedrich SchillerRead
Similar quotes
Which brings me to my conclusion upon Free Will and Predestination, namely - let the reader mark it - that they are identical.
Winston ChurchillRead
You can't segregate and humiliate people decade after decade without creating long-lasting injuries.
Bryan StevensonRead
The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The cat sat on the other cat’s mat is a story.
John Le CarreRead
Let the world move along as it pleased. If it had any business with him, it would be sure to tell him.
Haruki MurakamiRead
Faith does not, in the realist, spring from the miracle but the miracle from faith. If the realist once believes, then he is bound by his very realism to admit the miraculous also.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
We're all puppets, Laurie. I'm just a puppet who can see the strings.
Alan MooreRead