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For a person of understanding, interacting with children is endlessly interesting. Here one sees the book of nature thrown open, stripped of artificiality.

— Adolph Freiherr Knigge Über den Umgang mit Menschen (1788)

Der Umgang mit Kindern hat für einen verständigen Menschen unendlich viel Interesse. Hier sieht er das Buch der Natur in unverfälschter Ausgabe aufgeschlagen.

Original text (German)

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More quotes by Adolph Freiherr Knigge

One should never forget, that society would rather be amused than instructed.

Über den Umgang mit Menschen (1788)

In many matters children — not ensnared by dogmatism, passion, or erudition — judge far truer than adults.

Über den Umgang mit Menschen (1788)

Without inspiration, which fills the soul with a healthy warmth, nothing great can ever be brought to pass.

‪30 Minuten für intelligente Schlagfertigkeit‬ (2004)

Achte dich selbst, wenn du willst, dass andere dich achten sollen!

Über den Umgang mit Menschen (1788)

Compulsion kills all noble, freely given devotion.

Über den Umgang mit Menschen (1788)

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It is not in the books of the Philosophers, but in the religious symbolism of the Ancients, that we must look for the footprints of Science, and re-discover the Mysteries of Knowledge.

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There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.

Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 (1953)

People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.

Logan Pearsall Smith Afterthoughts (1931)

Attribution

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