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It is the mark of great people to treat trifles as trifles and important matters as important.

— Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Denn zu einem großen Manne gehört beides: Kleinigkeiten als Kleinigkeiten, und wichtige Dinge als wichtige Dinge zu behandeln.

Original text (German)

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Notes from Wikiquote

Hamburgische Dramaturgie (1767 - 1769), Vierunddreißigstes Stück Den 25. August 1767

More quotes by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The worst of superstitions is to think
One's own most bearable.

Nathan the Wise (1779)

The true value of a man is not determined by his possession, supposed or real, of Truth, but rather by his sincere exertion to get to the Truth.

Anti-Goeze (1778)

Nothing under the sun is accidental, least of all that of which the intention is so clearly evident.

Emilia Galotti (1772)

I have always said it—Nature meant woman to be her masterpiece.

Man, whence is he?
Too bad to be the work of a god, too good for the work of chance.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.