A Quote by Georg C. Lichtenberg

There are people who believe everything is sane and sensible that is done with a solemn face. ... 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.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

Quote Topics

Achievement Art Believe Book Call Done Everything Face Great Great Art However Less Liar Like Makes None Nothing People Sane Say Sensible Solemn Something Truth Whole Writes

Quote Author

Georg C. Lichtenberg
German - Scientist
July 1, 1742 - February 24, 1799

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.

Horace

There are people who believe everything is sane and sensible that is done with a solemn face.

Georg C. Lichtenberg

I must say a few words about memory. It is full of holes. If you were to lay it out upon a table, it would resemble a scrap of lace. I am a lover of history . . . [but] history has one flaw. It is a subjective art, no less so than poetry or music. . . . The historian writes a truth. The memoirist writes a truth. The novelist writes a truth. And so on. My mother, we both know, wrote a truth in The 19th Wife– a truth that corresponded to her memory and desires. It is not the truth, certainly not. But a truth, yes . . . Her book is a fact. It remains so, even if it is snowflaked with holes.

David Ebershoff

A lot of times, people believe that until you're a certain-list actor, you say yes to everything; you're not allowed to say no. But early on, something went off in me, and if something didn't ring true for a myriad of reasons, I would say no and was fortunate enough to have people around me that were OK with that.

Cress Williams

I believe in freedom of speech. I believe people have the right to say whatever they want to say. As long as they're ready to own what they say. Because there's a price to pay when you say something that's against the grain that is not correct.

Mark Henry

Writer's block is just a symptom of feeling like you have nothing to say, combined with the rather weird idea that you should feel the need to say something. Why? If you have something to say, then say it. If not, enjoy the silence while it lasts. The noise will return soon enough.

Hugh Jackman

The reason one writes isn't the fact he wants to say something. He writes because he has something to say.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

If you want to write about a person who isn't nice, people say, "This is a bad book. It's about somebody I couldn't stand." But that's not the point. You don't have to like a character to like a book. Most of the time, people would misjudge and say, "I didn't like the book." No, you didn't like the character. That doesn't make it any less interesting of a book. In fact, to me, it makes it more interesting.

Tama Janowitz

People who aren't minorities don't know what its like to be one. Of course they'll say, "He must've done something," because they're taught to believe that if you're targeted by the police that you've done something.

Brandon Marshall

One day,' Orest said, looking at him comically, 'you will say something that is less than practical and sensible, something that is driven by no forethought and nothing but passion, and I will probably collapse with shock.

Mercedes Lackey

The real secret about diplomats is that we're trained to say something, when there is nothing to say, and to say nothing when there is something to say.

Jon Huntsman, Jr.

People say great art is immortal. I say there's something mortal in it. It carries a glimpse of death.

Don DeLillo

I often say that I'm a Buddhist-Episcopalian. I say that partly to annoy people.I like to annoy people who think that a religion can contain the whole truth. No religion, it seems to me, contains the whole truth. I think it's mad to think that there is nothing to learn from other traditions and civilizations. If you accept that other religions have something to offer and you learn from them, that is what you become: a Buddhist-Episcopalian or a Hindu-Muslim or whatever.

Ninian Smart

it makes a great difference to a speaker whether he has something to say, or has to say something.

Nellie L. McClung

No company can say our country is great because of our diversity. They can say it but has nothing to do with it, literally nothing to do with it, how diverse you are. "Well, it just means that we don't discriminate. It means that we value all people." Fine and dandy. But unless your company makes something or has a service and you have an atmosphere where people working for you can become the best they can be, it doesn't matter what your workforce looks like, dummkopf.