Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.
Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) was a German poet, playwright and historian, and with Goethe the central figure of Weimar Classicism. He trained as a military doctor and deserted the service in order to write. His Ode to Joy was later set to music in the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
About this theme: Philosophy
Philosophy always sits awkwardly in a collection of quotations: systems do not compress into a sentence, and that is exactly what is asked of them. Kant's ethics or Nietzsche's critique of morality do not fit into a single line without loss. What survives is the phrasing — often brilliant, but lifted out of the context that gave it weight.
More by Friedrich Schiller
- Keep true to the dreams of your youth.
- Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily.
- It is not flesh and blood, but the heart which makes us fathers and sons.
- The voice of the majority is no proof of justice.
- He who has done his best for his own time has lived for all times.
More on Philosophy
- The unexamined life is not worth living.— Socrates
- Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.— Baruch Spinoza
- The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.— Michel de Montaigne
- A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.— Blaise Pascal