Ludwig Tieck

“ He venerates you, he adores your talents, he flatters you. Whether he is in earnest, I do not know; I will not say that he is deliberately lying — but it is not entirely unlikely.
— You insult me! exclaimed Kronenberg. I consider Duplessis a gentleman; and I have no more intimate a relationship with him than can be found every day amongst persons of good breeding.
— You choose to misunderstand me, continued Emmerich, somewhat offended; as always, you are evading me. And the Count, who loves you like a father, asks, nay implores, that you be to be careful. ”

“ Emmerich was taken aback.
— Is it possible? he exclaimed, keenly observing him; can vanity and a love of mystery so deeply undermine a person's character that he would spurn the greatest happiness that lies before him just to run after mirages? ”

“ The ranters, as unphilosophical as they are unhistorical, would like to throw past and present into the abyss and annihilate them just so that they can establish their chimerical future, to wit, the tyrannical supremacy of their whims. They rage in their zeal for freedom when the despotism of the German Emperor Henry is broken by a powerful Pontiff, who established freedom in that era more securely than they could ever dream of doing ”

“ Dazzled by the splendour of foreign glory, we strove for things that were not appropriate for us, that brought us no good, no happiness, and we learned to spurn the gifts, the true happiness, the native excellence, that still did not begrudge us a kind fate. ”

“ He went out, paying scant heed to the jocose remarks Duplessis expressed at his expense. The musician also left, and Duplessis said to Kronenberg, with whom he now found himself alone:
— Things will turn out as this disgruntled youth imagines, either now or in the future; but my imagination has spent the whole night pondering over what you disclosed to me yesterday and the day before. You know how much I detest the current régime of my native land, and the man to whom we must all pay abject homage as our so-called emperor; he fritters away our finest resources, and scarcely thanks us for them ”

“ Only in this way can public opinion be born in Germany; also, this art or craft of disseminating opinions through journals and newspapers is one we must first learn from the French, and especially from the English. As long as there are still entire villages among us who neither can read nor have any desire to read, it will always seem to me as though one is talking about a phantom when one speaks of German literature. ”

“ Art and science, philosophy and poetry, of which the Germans are so vain, may now take wing and soar to even greater heights, as they no longer have to struggle against prohibitive policies and various civil institutions. The freedom of the press is at least the first good thing on which we may count with certainty. ”

“ The larger kingdoms watched one another jealously, and gleefully regarded their rivals' losses as their own gains. Freedom had long since fled, good taste had leaked out of the hollow moulds of the former régime, and the gloomy ruins could at most only inhibit genius and paralyze recovery. ”

“ For nearly twenty years now these principles have resounded across our mountains and our plains, and for almost as many years the armies of the enemy have been in turn the rulers of different provinces; and where, I might ask, is there a country, a tribe, a city, a village even, that would ever become disloyal to their native sovereign? No, the tighter the fetters, the more fervent their love becomes. ”

“ No, the German sovereigns can never forget this, they can never repay with ingratitude this devotion, these sacrifices, this unwavering loyalty (which will prove itself again and again) . They will never make the mistake of confusing the voices of those newspapers with the voice of their people.
— And so, interjected the musician, this momentous adventure will be all for nothing?
— Heaven has approved it, replied Emmerich, and out of the abyss of misery a ray of hope shines forth. We will all see the light ”

“ Now, however, this pitiful empire of cities, these Nuremberg trinkets, [1] have been knocked out of their hands; a new spirit is passing through all their countries with irresistible force; it is putting asunder things that have not been separated for a long time and joining together things that have never before been united: and so they awaken, and prudently pay homage now to a new force, which seems destined to become master of all Europe. ”

“ But let the better man be careful, if he strives to defend the supreme, not to associate himself out of mistaken zeal with those stateless servants of the moment and the deluded mob who emblazon this holy word on their banners in order to blaze a trail with their anger, their hatred of authority and their manic destructiveness. ”

“ It would be better if this great convulsion, which the world can no longer avoid, were administered to us by a civilized foreign nation, better if the great lessons were taught and instilled by a great man before whom it is no disgrace to bow down, than that this event should be the result of the confusion of the mob, blind tribulation or indolence. ”

“ The German never even wanted to be independent; leave him his childish things, his obstinacy, and he will rattle away happily with his toys, even in the midst of oppression, and provided his neighbour is in the same pickle he will consider himself blest. ”