Ludwig Tieck

“ There is no greater pleasure for the young knight than to traverse valleys and fields. Here a majestic castle stands in the splendour of the morning sun; there the shepherd's shawm resounds across the meadow and through the dense forest; a noble lady flies past on a white palfrey; knights and squires meet me in bright armour and adventures crowd around me; unknown, I travel through famous cities; the most wonderful change, an ever-new life surrounds me ”

“ You see before you only the realization of your fine hopes. But remember, it may very well be that a thousand hardships stand ready to obstruct your passage if you leave home. You will then have to struggle with misery, perhaps, and wish you were back at home with us.
Peter, who was still kneeling humbly before his parents, replied:
— Dear parents, I cannot help it, but my only wish is to travel into the wide unknown world, to experience joy and hardship, and then to return home as a famous and esteemed man. ”

“ He was happiest when alone and self-absorbed, as though he was pursuing some secret desire, and many experienced people concluded that he was in love; therefore no one wanted to awaken him from his dreams, because they knew very well that love is a sweet sound that sleeps in the ear and how its imaginative melody speaks to us in our dreams, so that the dreamer himself, let alone a stranger, only understands it as a dark mystery; and that the dream often takes flight all too quickly and seeks once again his dwelling place in the ether and the golden clouds of morning. ”