Ludwig Tieck

“ So it is not always true that the Muses love solitude and silence, and if we have no roaring waterfalls, which, as many claim, are to be considered sublime, then we'll use the staircase here as a cascade and the slamming of doors as the mountains' echoes. ”

“ So when the women, exhausted with all the hiking and the noise and the endless respect shown to them, finally resumed their journey in their little old patched-up carriage, he had to compensate the imprisoned farmer with several thalers, bribe the village courts, handsomely tip the farmhands and day-labourers, and administer to insignificant little me numerous hugs and kisses as well as warm protestations of friendship, lest I reveal to anyone how he had decked himself out in a blaze of false glory as a three-hour tyrant. ”

“ Your talent, she replied, laughing, is only so-so; at least you played the lover much more naturally than you did the man of the world just now, removing his artfully contrived mask. You are obviously embarrassed, try as you might to compose yourself. O, yes, Sir, you still have much to learn in the school we call the big wide world; you are just playing truant from one of the lowest classes. ”

“ Kronenberg once more took his leave, because he had to resume his journey at the earliest the following morning; he begged to be excused for the evening, as he still had some extremely urgent letters to write. Little notice was taken of him, and soon thereafter they had forgotten all about him, as the important negotiations seemed to be taxing everyone's mind; only young Wehlen crept after him to take his leave of him outside somewhat more solemnly and with greater emotion, and to wish him the best of luck. ”

“ My father toils to come up with excellent questions, to make regulations that are impossible or impracticable, and in order not to treat the thing frivolously and terminate the comedy too quickly, there is often fifteen minutes of holy silence when he cannot think of any more questions to ask and the others of course have no more answers to give. ”

“ I cannot describe how strange such remarks, loud laughter or intense interest seemed to me, as I had never fallen under that delusion. I have also noticed that one must actually train oneself to become truly accustomed to it, if one is to lead such a life as one finds in books; also, such people lose all sense of reality. ”

“ The young fellow, as you may have noticed, is rather scatterbrained and quite idle. So long as his time is taken up with aimless walks, the pleasures of the chase, easy reading, riding and social calls, he is quite calm. ”

“ It's just that we don't take reading so seriously and ponderously all the time, unlike the majority of people, who have only recently acquired the very annoying habit of being seen as enthusiastically in favour of this or that party, or in outright hostility against another. ”

“ Whoever knows how to converse well and in his own way with the French has already won half the battle, and if the monarchs are mobilizing their troops, building up their arsenals and strengthening their defences, then let us also, my dears, take up once more those idioms, puns and easy conversation of our so-called enemies, so that, through a detailed knowledge of Racine, Voltaire and Diderot, we may resist them with as little recourse to violence as possible. ”

“ Every day he dreads this hour, and every day it takes him a long time to recover from it. Go on up: you may perhaps release him from this Purgatory.
Kronenberg followed this suggestion, and in the Baron's room he found the servants drawn up in silence and forced attention, contemplating their master, who was gazing at the Heavens. ”

“ So you too belong to the majority of unprincipled men, those who cannot resist temptation, who cannot nobly reject an apparent favour? You wish to be a good friend, and yet you have hardly mentioned the name of my beloved to me? ”

“ Knowing how to shuffle the cards skilfully, how to play with finesse, how to guess what your opponent has while never revealing your own hand, and last but not least, never taking this type of entertainment seriously: all these are qualities which a good education must teach thoroughly. ”

“ I am still waiting for that witty author who will someday turn all these weighty matters into drolleries for me and completely dissolve this apparent and tedious harmony, this sequence of causes and effects. Because everything is just one big lie. Some French memoirs have already come pretty close to what I am looking for.
— Also, the literature of every nation, said his daughter, can interest us in no other way ”

“ Then they construct an idol for themselves which they call good taste, or the progress of civilization, or culture, and to which they sacrifice their amusement, and in which they themselves often have no faith, just so that they can appear noble and exalted. ”

“ In order to convince the ladies that he is in charge, he reprimands the estate's servants, in the farm buildings he rants and curses all over the shop, orders this and that to be done quite differently the following day, and as the baffled farmhands and day-labourers do not recognize him, he boasts to his entourage how much all his subjects fear his majesty. ”

“ In the early decades of the 19th century the term was applied to popular gilt-edged pocket books or almanacs because they generally appeared before Christmas.↑ That is, the gilt-edging on the edges of the pages.↑ Tieck is referring to the Yuletide custom of tipping one's local sexton and night-watchmen, who wander from house to house at this time of the year, wishing their parishioners a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. ”