Friedrich Schiller
Overview
 
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller ˈjoːhan ˈkʁɪstɔf ˈfʁiːdʁɪç fɔn ˈʃɪlɐ (10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

, philosopher
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

, historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

, and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...

. They frequently discussed issues concerning aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...

, and Schiller encouraged Goethe to finish works he left as sketches.
Quotations

I feel an army in my fist.

Die Räuber|Die Räuber (The Robbers), Act II (1781)

The joke loses everything when the joker laughs himself.

Die Verschwörung des Fiesco (The Conspiracy of Fiesco), Act I, sc. vii (1783)

Did you think the lion was sleeping because he didn't roar?

Die Verschwörung des Fiesco (The Conspiracy of Fiesco), Act I, sc. xviii (1783)

The lemonade is weak, like your soul.

Kabale und Liebe|Kabale und Liebe (Intrigue and Love), Act V, sc. vii (1784)

There are three lessons I would write,Three words as with a burning pen,In tracings of eternal lightUpon the hearts of men.

Hope, Faith, and Love, st. 1 (c. 1786)

Die Weltgeschichte ist das Weltgericht.

Translation: World history is the world's court.

Resignation (1786)

What one refuses in a minuteNo eternity will return.

Resignation (1786)

What the inner voice saysWill not disappoint the hoping soul.

Hope, last stanza (1797)

 
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