WednesdayMay 27, 2026
Quotes: 53419 Authors: 9969
Jean Paul (21 March 1763 — 14 November 1825), born Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, was a German writer, best known for his humorous novels and stories.
Has it never occurred to us, when surrounded by sorrows, that they may be sent to us only for our instruction.
Never does a man portray his own character more vividly than in his manner of portraying another.
How narrow our souls become when absorbed in any present good or ill! It is only the thought of the future that makes them great.
Sleep, riches, and health, to be truly enjoyed, must be interrupted.
In later life, as in earlier, only a few persons influence the formation of our character; the multitude pass us by like a distant army. One friend, one teacher, one beloved, one club, one dining table, one work table are the means by which one's nation and the spirit of one's nation affect the individual.
It has been jestingly said that the works of John Paul Richter are almost unintelligible to any but the Germans, and even to some of them. A worthy German, just before Richter's death, edited a complete edition of his works, in which one particular passage fairly puzzled him. Determined to have it explained at the source, he went to John Paul himself. The author's reply was very characteristic: 'My good friend, when I wrote that passage, God and I knew what it meant; it is possible that God knows it still; but as for me, I have totally forgotten.'
The last, best fruit which comes to late perfection, even in the kindliest soul, is tenderness toward the hard, forbearance toward the unforbearing, warmth of heart toward the cold, philanthropy toward the misanthropic.
Do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to do good; try to use ordinary situations.
Every man regards his own life as the New Year's Eve of time.
What Cicero said of menthat they are like wines, age souring the bad, and bettering the goodwe can say of misfortune, that it has the same effect upon them.
What a father says to his children is not heard by the world, but it will be heard by posterity.
Men, like bullets, go farthest when they are smoothest.
Cheerfulness is the atmosphere under which all things thrive.
A man never shows his own character so plainly as by his manner of portraying anothers.
Only actions give life strength; only moderation gives it charm.
A man never shows his own character so plainly as by his manner of portraying another's.
Strong characters are brought out by change of situation, And gentle ones by permanence.
Do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to do good Action; try to use ordinary situations.
Death gives us sleep, eternal youth, and immortality.
A good person can put himself in the place of a bad person more easily than a bad person can put himself in the place of a good person.
Every friend is to the other a sun, and a sunflower also. He attracts and follows.
Friendship requires deeds.
Beauty attracts us men; but if, like an armed magnet it is pointed, beside, with gold and silver, it attracts with tenfold power.
A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time, and a courageous person afterwards.
Courage consists not in blindly overlooking danger, But in seeing it, and conquering it.
Our sorrows are like thunder-clouds, which seem black in the distance, but grow lighter as they approach.
Inspect the neighborhood of thy life; every shelf, every nook of thine abode.
Sorrows gather around great souls as storms do around mountains; but, like them, they break the storm and purify the air of the plain beneath them.
Sorrow seems sent for our instruction, as we darken the cages of birds when we would teach them to sing.
Sleep, riches, and health, are only truly enjoyed after they have been interrupted.
Prayer purifies; it is a self-preached sermon.
Time is a continual over-dropping of moments, which fall down one upon the other and evaporate.
There is a certain noble pride, through which merits shine brighter than through modesty.
The past and future are veiled; but the past wears the widow's veil, the future the virgin's.
The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.
The long sleep of death closes our scars, And the short sleep of life our wounds. Sleep is the half of time which heals us.
Winter, which strips the leaves from around us, makes us see the distant regions they formerly concealed; so does old age rob us of our enjoyments, only to enlarge the prospect of eternity before us.
Paradise is always where love dwells.
Spring makes everything young again except man.
The darkness of death is like the evening twilight; it makes all objects appear more lovely to the dying.
Only actions give life strength; only moderation gives it a charm.
We find God twice - once within, once without us: within us as an eye, without us as a light.
Without a God there is for man neither purpose, nor goal, nor hope, only a wavering future, and an eternal dread of every darkness.
You must seek and find God in the heart.
No one is more profoundly sad than he who laughs too much.
Never part without loving words to think of during your Absence. It may be that you will not meet again in life.
Music is the poetry of the air.
Life, like the waters of the seas, freshens only when it Ascends toward heaven.
Joy descends gently upon us like the evening dew, And does not patter down like a hailstorm.
The burden of suffering seems a tombstone hung about our necks, while in reality it is only the weight which is necessary to keep down the diver while he is hunting for pearls.
Pleasure soon exhausts us and itself also; But endeavor never does.
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