
“A wise man sees as much as he ought, not as much as he can”
Attributed
Source: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter LXX: On the proper time to slip the cable, Line 4.
Sapiens vivit quantum debet, non quantum potest.
“A wise man sees as much as he ought, not as much as he can”
Attributed
The Redeemer's Tears Wept Over Lost Souls (1684)
Context: No man can certainly know, or ought to conclude, concerning himself or others, as long as they live, that the season of grace is quite over with them. As we can conceive no rule God hath set to Himself to proceed by, in ordinary cases of this nature; so nor is there any He hath set unto us to judge by, in this case. It were to no purpose, and could be of no use to men to know so much; therefore it were unreasonable to expect God should have settled and declared any rule, by which they might come to the knowledge of it.
“What wise or stupid thing can man conceive
That was not thought of in ages long ago?”
Act II, The Gothic Chamber
Faust, Part 2 (1832)
“A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her.”
Variant: A man can be happy with any woman, as long as he does not love her.
Source: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Source: Earthsea Books, A Wizard of Earthsea (1968), Chapter 5
“We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it”
“Man errs as long as he strives.”
Es irrt der Mensch, so lang er strebt.
Variant translation: Man will err while yet he strives.
Prologue in Heaven
Faust, Part 1 (1808)
English note by the hand of the poet in the same paper sheet: Your poems are of interest to mankind; your liver isn't. Drink till you write well and feel sick. Bless your poems and be damned to you.
Ibid., p. 229
The Book of Disquiet
Original: Se um homem escreve bem só quando está bêbado dir-lhe-ei: embebede-se- E se ele me disser que o seu fígado sofre com isso, respondo: o que é o seu fígado? É uma coisa morta que vive enquanto você vive, e os poemas que escrever vivem sem enquanto.