As the ancient commander addressed his soldiers before battle, so should the moralist speak to men in the struggle of the era.

From what the moderns want, we must learn what poetry should become; from what the ancients did, what poetry must be.

There is no self-knowledge but an historical one. No one knows what he himself is who does not know his fellow men, especially the most prominent one of the community, the master's master, the genius of the age.

Nothing is more witty and grotesque than ancient mythology and Christianity; that is because they are so mystical.

Duty is for Kant the One and All. Out of the duty of gratitude, he claims, one has to defend and esteem the ancients; and only out of duty has he become a great man.

Nothing truly convincing - which would possess thoroughness, vigor, and skill - has been written against the ancients as yet; especially not against their poetry.