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"Warum huldigest du, heiliger Sokrates,
Diesem Jünglinge stets? [Kennest]1 du Größers nicht,
Warum siehet mit Liebe,
Wie auf Götter, dein Aug' auf ihn?"
Wer das Tiefste gedacht, liebt das Lebendigste,
Hohe Tugend versteht, wer in die Welt geblickt,
Und es neigen die Weisen
Oft am Ende zu Schönem sich.
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View text without footnotesText Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 50
"Why, holy Socrates, do you court
This youth all the time? Don't you know of anything greater?
Why do your eyes gaze on him with love,
as if you were looking at the gods?"
He who has pondered the most profound thoughts, loves what is most alive;
He who has seen the world understands lofty virtue.
And in the end, the wise will often
Bend toward that which is beautiful.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 70
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