"There can hardly be stranger wares in the world than books: printed by people who do not understand them; sold by people who do not understand them; bound, reviewed and read by people who do not understand them; and now even written by people who do not understand them"

"If it were true what in the end would be gained? Nothing but another truth. Is this such a mighty advantage? We have enough old truths still to digest, and even these we would be quite unable to endure if we did not sometimes flavor them with lies."

"A handful of soldiers is always better than a mouthful of arguments."

"The great rule: If the little bit you have is nothing special in itself, at least find a way of saying it that is a little bit special."

"It is no great art to say something briefly when, like Tacitus, one has something to say; when one has nothing to say, however, and none the less writes a whole book and makes truth ... into a liar — that I call an achievement"

"We do not think good metaphors are anything very important, but I think that a good metaphor is something even the police should keep an eye on."

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

"Why are young widows in mourning so beautiful? (Look into it.)"

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg