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Struggle against it as thou wilt, yet Heaven's ways are Heaven's ways.

— Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Sperre dich, so viel du willst!
Des Himmels Wege sind des Himmels Wege.

Original text (French)

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Religion

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.

All Gotthold Ephraim Lessing quotes →

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All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.

Albert Einstein Moral Decay (1937)

Science and religion are two human enterprises sharing many features.

Freeman Dyson Infinite in All Directions (1988)

The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the law of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.

John Adams A Defence of the Constitutions of Government (1787)

The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.

Thomas Babington Macaulay History of England (1849)

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.