Matthias Claudius

Matthias Claudius (15 August 1740 – 21 January 1815) was a German poet and journalist, otherwise known by the pen name of Asmus.

Quotes

• Wenn jemand eine Reise thut,
     So kann er was verzählen.
  • When anyone a journey takes,
       He has some yarns to spin.
  • "Urians Reise um die Welt" — King (1904), p. 364, no. 2859
  • Traveller's tales. Cf. Tacitus, Annales 2, 24: Ut quis ex longinquo revenerat, miracula narrabant.—"Like all who come back from distant parts, they had wonderful things to tell."

• Ach die Natur schuf mich im Grimme,
  Sie gab mir nichts — als eine schöne Stimme!
  • My portrait in a rage did nature draw,
    And gave me only a sweet voice —"he-haw!"
  • "Des Esels Trost" ("Der Esel") — Baskerville (1854), p. 80

• Aus nichts wird nichts, das merke wohl,
  Wenn aus dir etwas werden soll.
  • From nothing nothing comes, take that
    To heart, if thou would'st something be.
  • "Ein Silbern A.B.C." — Dalbiac (1906), p. 24

• Greif' nicht leicht in ein Wespennest,
  Doch wenn du greifst, so stehe fest.
  • Attack not thoughtlessly a wasp’s nest, but if you do, stand fast.
  • "Ein Silbern A.B.C." — Wood (1893), p. 136

• Der Winter ist ein rechter Mann,
  Kernfest und auf die Dauer.
  • Old Winter is the man for me,—
       Stout-hearted, sound, and steady.
  • "Ein Lied hinterm Ofen zu singen" — Brooks (1842), p. 235

• Am Rhein, am Rhein, da wachsen unsre Reben;
     Gesegnet sey der Rhein!
  Da wachsen sie am Ufer hin, und geben
     Uns diesen Labewein.
  • The Rhine—the Rhine—there grow the gay plantations!
       O hallowed be the Rhine!
    Upon his banks are brewed the rich potations
       Of this consoling wine.
  • "Rheinweinlied", str. 8 — Macray (1827), p. 126

See also

• Creatio ex materia
• Creatio ex nihilo

External links

• John Macray, Stray Leaves, including Translations from the Lyric Poets of Germany, with Brief Notices of their Works (London: Treuttel and Würtz, 1827), p. 126
• Charles T. Brooks, Songs and Ballads; translated from Uhland, Körner, Bürger, and other German Lyric Poets (Boston, MA: James Munroe & Co.; London: John Green, 1842), p. 235
• Alfred Baskerville, The Poetry of Germany (Leipzig: G. Mayer; London: Williams & Norgate; New York: Garrigue & Christern, 1854), p. 80
• James Wood (ed.) Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources (London: Frederick Warne & Co., 1893), pp. 14, 18, 58, 67, 136, 139, 202, 298, 300, 306, 311, 381, 491, 501, 569
• W. F. H. King (ed.) Classical and Foreign Quotations, 3rd ed. (1904), p. 364, no. 2859
• Lilian Dalbiac (ed.) Dictionary of Quotations: German (1906), pp. 7, 24, 32, 59, 87, 107, 136, 170, 180, 184, 222, 329, 352, 384, 385
• Das Grosse Krüger Zitaten Buch: 15000 Zitate von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart (Frankfurt am Main: W. Krüger, 1977), p. 78