Heinrich Heine: Quotes about people

Heinrich Heine was German poet, journalist, essayist, and literary critic. Explore interesting quotes on people.
Heinrich Heine: 122   quotes 19   likes

“In dark ages people are best guided by religion, as in a pitch-black night a blind man is the best guide; he knows the roads and paths better than a man who can see. When daylight comes, however, it is foolish to use blind, old men as guides.”

Heinrich Heine
Men , People , Age , Religion

“There are more fools in the world than there are people.”

Heinrich Heine

As quoted in One Big Fib : The Incredible Story of the Fraudulent First International Bank of Grenada (2003) by Owen Platt, p. 37

People , World , Fools

“Where they burn books, at the end they also burn people”

Heinrich Heine

Almansor: A Tragedy (1823), as translated in True Religion (2003) by Graham Ward, p. 142
Variant translations:
Wherever books are burned, men in the end will also burn.
Where they burn books, at the end they also burn people.
Where they burn books, they will also burn people.
It is there, where they burn books, that eventually they burn people.
Where they burn books, so too will they in the end burn human beings.
Where they burn books, they also burn people.
Them that begin by burning books, end by burning men.
Variant: Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.

People , Books

“People in those old times had convictions; we moderns only have opinions. And it needs more than a mere opinion to erect a Gothic cathedral.”

Heinrich Heine

Französische Bühne (The French Stage), ch. 9 (1837)
Original: (de) Die Menschen in jener alten Zeit hatten Überzeugungen, wir Neueren haben nur Meinungen, und es gehört etwas mehr als eine bloße Meinung dazu, um so einen gotischen Dom aufzurichten.

People , Time