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| A refusal is less than nothing. | 1 |
| Abgründe liegen im Gemüthe, die tiefer als die Hölle sind—There are abysses in the mind that are deeper than hell. | 2 |
| Bemerke, höre, schweige. Urteile wenig, frage viel—Take note of what you see, give heed to what you hear, and be silent. Judge little, inquire much. | 3 |
| Bewunderung verdient ein Wunder wohl, / Doch scheint ein Weib kein echtes Weib zu sein, / So bald es nur Bewunderung verdient—What is admirable justly calls forth our admiration, yet a woman seems to be no true woman who calls forth nothing else. | 4 |
| Da du Welt nicht kannst entsagen, / Erobre dir sie mit Gewait—Where thou canst not renounce the world, subdue it under thee by force. | 5 |
| Das hat die Freude mit dem Schmerz gemein, / Dass sie die Menschen der Vernunft beraubt—Joy has this in common with pain, that it bereaves man of reason. | 6 |
| Des Rats bedarf die Seele nicht, die Rechtes will—The soul which wills what is right needs no counsel. | 7 |
| Die Tugend grosser Seelen ist Gerechtigkeit—The virtue of great souls is justice. | 8 |
| Ersparte Wahl ist auch ersparte Mühe—Selection saved is trouble saved. | 9 |
| Fool before all is he who does not instantly seize the right moment; who has what he loves before his eyes, and yet swerves (schweift) aside. | 10 |
| He never knew pain who never felt the pangs of love. | 11 |
| In my virtue (Tugend) I wrap myself and sleep. | 12 |
| It is easy to be a spendthrift with other people’s property. | 13 |
| Ja, so schätzt der Mensch das Leben, als heiliges Kleinod, / Dass er jenen am meisten verehrt, der es trotzig verschmähet—Yes, man values life as a sacred jewel in such a way that he reveres him most who haughtily scorns it. | 14 |
| Joy has this in common with pain, that it robs men of reason. | 15 |
| Love is deemed the tenderest (zärteste) of our affections, as even the blind and the deaf know; but I know, what few believe, that true friendship is more tender still. | 16 |
| Lovers (Verliebte) see only each other in the world, but they forget that the world sees them. | 17 |
| Mit fremdem Gut ist leicht ein Prasser sein—It is easy to live riotously (be a rake) at another’s expense. | 18 |
| Nur stets zu sprechen, ohne was zu sagen, / Das war von je der Redner grosste Gabe—To but speak on without saying anything has ever been the greatest gift of the orator. | 19 |
| O Thor, wer nicht im Augenblick den wahren Augenblick ergreift, / Wer, was er liebt, im Auge, und dennoch nach der Seite schweift—Oh, fool, he seizes not the true moment in the moment who has what he loves before his eye, and still swerves from it. | 20 |
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| Oh! Kritisieren, lieber Heir, ist federleicht, / Doch Bessermachen schwierig—Oh, criticising, good sir, is as easy as a feather is light; ’tis making better that’s the difficulty. | 21 |
| Religion des Kreuzes, nur du verknüpfest, in einem / Kranze der Demut und Kraft doppelte Palme zugleich—Religion of the Cross! only thou unitest in one wreath together the twofold palm of humility and power. | 22 |
| Sleep is the sole reviver (Labsal) of the afflicted. | 23 |
| Stets liegt, wo das Banner der Wahrheit wallt, / Der Aberglaube im Hinterhalt—Where the banner of truth waves unfurled, there you will always find superstition lying in ambush. | 24 |
| The virtue of great souls is justice (Gerechtigkeit). | 25 |
| There are depths in the soul which are deeper than hell. | 26 |
| Wäre der Geist nicht frei, dann wär’ es ein grosser Gedanke, / Dass ein Gedankenmonarch über die Seele regiert—Only if the spirit of man were not free, would the thought be a great one that there is a monarch of thought who rules over our souls. | 27 |
| Was niemals unser war, entbehrt man leicht—We easily dispense with what we never had. | 28 |
| We easily dispense with what was never our own. | 29 |
| Wen die Natur zum Dichter schuf, den lehrt sie auch zu paaren / Das Schöne mit dem Kräftigen, das Neue mit dem Wahren—Him whom Nature has created for a poet, she also teaches to combine the beautiful with the powerful, and the new with the true. | 30 |
| Wie ein Pfeil nach seinem Ziele fliegt des braven Mannes Wort—Like an arrow to its aim flies the good man’s word. | 31 |
| Wo viel zu wagen ist, ist viel zu wägen—Where there is much to risk, there is much to consider. | 32 |
| Zwar eine schöne Tugend ist die Treue, / Doch schöner ist Gerechtigkeit—Fidelity indeed is a noble virtue, yet justice is nobler still. | 33 |
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