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The Satan of the Italian and English poets may be poetic; but the German Satan is satanic; and thus one could say that Satan is a German invention.

— Friedrich Schlegel Athenäum (1798)

Der Satan der italienischen und englischen Dichter mag poetischer sein; aber der deutsche Satan ist satanischer; und insofern könnte man sagen, der Satan sei eine deutsche Erfindung.

Original text (German)

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Poetry

More quotes by Friedrich Schlegel

Life is writing. The sole purpose of mankind is to engrave the thoughts of divinity onto the tablets of nature.

Expect nothing more from philosophy than a voice, language and grammar of the instinct for Godliness that lies at its origin, and, essentially, is philosophy itself.

To live classically and to realize antiquity practically within oneself is the summit and goal of philology.

There are people with whom everything they consider a means turns mysteriously into an end.

Morality has always had a difficult time of it; utility and legality even begrudge the fact of its existence.

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I am no poet, but if you think for yourselves, as I proceed, the facts will form a poem in your minds.

Michael Faraday

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