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What has always made the state a hell on earth has been precisely that man has tried to make it heaven.

— Friedrich Hölderlin

Immerhin hat das den Staat zur Hölle gemacht, daß ihn der Mensch zu seinem Himmel machen wollte.

Original text (German)

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More quotes by Friedrich Hölderlin

The heart's wave would not foam up so beautifully and become spirit, if the ancient, mute rock, fate, did not stand opposed to it.

Being at one is god-like and good, but human, too human, the mania
Which insists there is only the One, one country, one truth, and one way.

Wherein lies the danger, grows also the saving power.

He who has thought most deeply loves what is most alive.

What is the wisdom of a book compared with the wisdom of an angel?

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Attribution

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