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The introduction of symmetries belongs here too, silhouettes in inkblots, etc. Likewise the gradation we establish in the order of creatures: all this is not in the things but in us. In general we cannot remember too often that when we observe nature, and especially the ordering of nature, it is always ourselves alone we are observing.

— Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

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More quotes by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

It is almost impossible to bear the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody’s beard.

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If you are going to build something in the air it is always better to build castles than houses of cards.

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The human tendency to regard little things as important has produced very many great things.

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Nothing can contribute more to peace of soul than the lack of any opinion whatever.

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Even truth needs to be clad in new garments if it is to appeal to a new age.

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