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casparb's review against another edition
reading this one certainly receives the impression that Lichtenberg was a weird little guy
heliogabalous_vrz's review against another edition
4.0
Often brilliant, but also often not, it has some of the best aphorisms I've ever read especially on the subject of scholars, language, mathematics, and the act or hobby of reading. However it is not a perfect book potentially by design. Loved it, but its just not perfect.
sloatsj's review against another edition
5.0
“Ideas too are a life and a world.” (p. 91)
[b:The Waste Books|984015|The Waste Books|Georg Christoph Lichtenberg|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1343788385s/984015.jpg|969510] is a collection of 1,085 aphorisms and other short writings by a curious German hunchback who had a crater on the moon named after him. He was primarily a scientist, but also a satirist, and this is a book he never intended to publish, being a compilation of notebooks of his observations, thoughts and reflections.
“I would give something to know for precisely whom the deeds were really done of which it is publicly stated they were done for the Fatherland.” (p.208)
“A golden rule: We must judge men, not by their opinions, but by what these opinions make of them.” (p.170)
Schopenhauer called Lichtenberg someone who enjoyed thinking “for his own instruction,” and in one longer entry, Lichtenberg says we shouldn’t go to bed without having learned something that day, and he doesn't mean a vocabulary word! Sometimes Lichtenberg’s inclination toward reflection and a summing-up is expressed with bite and wit.
“Because he always neglected his own duties he had time to observe which of his fellow citizens neglected theirs and to report the fact to the authorities.” (p.114)
Lichtenberg has some pet topics, including morality (“Before we blame we should first see whether we cannot excuse.” p.194),
society (“There are countries where it is not uncommon for officers who have served well in a war to be reduced in rank when peace arrives. Would it not be a good thing if in certain departments of government the officials, or some of them, were reduced in rank whenever war breaks out?” p.209),
books (“Nowadays we already have books about books and descriptions of descriptions.” p. 49),
education (“Diminution of one’s needs is something that certainly ought to be inculcated in youth. ‘The fewer needs one has the happier one is’ is an old but much-neglected truth.” p.223),
and human nature (“The most perfect ape cannot draw an ape; only man can do that; but likewise, only man regards the ability to do this as a sign of superiority.” p. 152).
Some of the aphorisms are also hard to categorize. Here are a few of my favorites:
“The celebrated painter Gainsborough got as much pleasure from seeing violins as from hearing them.” (p.222)
“We do not think good metaphors are anything very important, but I think a good metaphor is something even the police should keep an eye on.” (p. 78)
“There are people who believe everything is sane and sensible that is done with a solemn face.” (p. 72)
“He who says he hates every kind of flattery, and says it in earnest, certainly does not yet know every kind of flattery.” (p.194)
I suggest approaching this book as something to gnaw on in brief sittings, rather than to sit down and attempt to “read it as book.” Would make a great coffeetable book for the thinking wo/man.
[b:The Waste Books|984015|The Waste Books|Georg Christoph Lichtenberg|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1343788385s/984015.jpg|969510] is a collection of 1,085 aphorisms and other short writings by a curious German hunchback who had a crater on the moon named after him. He was primarily a scientist, but also a satirist, and this is a book he never intended to publish, being a compilation of notebooks of his observations, thoughts and reflections.
“I would give something to know for precisely whom the deeds were really done of which it is publicly stated they were done for the Fatherland.” (p.208)
“A golden rule: We must judge men, not by their opinions, but by what these opinions make of them.” (p.170)
Schopenhauer called Lichtenberg someone who enjoyed thinking “for his own instruction,” and in one longer entry, Lichtenberg says we shouldn’t go to bed without having learned something that day, and he doesn't mean a vocabulary word! Sometimes Lichtenberg’s inclination toward reflection and a summing-up is expressed with bite and wit.
“Because he always neglected his own duties he had time to observe which of his fellow citizens neglected theirs and to report the fact to the authorities.” (p.114)
Lichtenberg has some pet topics, including morality (“Before we blame we should first see whether we cannot excuse.” p.194),
society (“There are countries where it is not uncommon for officers who have served well in a war to be reduced in rank when peace arrives. Would it not be a good thing if in certain departments of government the officials, or some of them, were reduced in rank whenever war breaks out?” p.209),
books (“Nowadays we already have books about books and descriptions of descriptions.” p. 49),
education (“Diminution of one’s needs is something that certainly ought to be inculcated in youth. ‘The fewer needs one has the happier one is’ is an old but much-neglected truth.” p.223),
and human nature (“The most perfect ape cannot draw an ape; only man can do that; but likewise, only man regards the ability to do this as a sign of superiority.” p. 152).
Some of the aphorisms are also hard to categorize. Here are a few of my favorites:
“The celebrated painter Gainsborough got as much pleasure from seeing violins as from hearing them.” (p.222)
“We do not think good metaphors are anything very important, but I think a good metaphor is something even the police should keep an eye on.” (p. 78)
“There are people who believe everything is sane and sensible that is done with a solemn face.” (p. 72)
“He who says he hates every kind of flattery, and says it in earnest, certainly does not yet know every kind of flattery.” (p.194)
I suggest approaching this book as something to gnaw on in brief sittings, rather than to sit down and attempt to “read it as book.” Would make a great coffeetable book for the thinking wo/man.
dkai's review against another edition
4.0
Georg's collection of aphorisms is a treat to read, whether it's random observations about his town, obscure references to things no current reader would get, jokes and insults, or real interesting insights about the world from his time that still ring true. I would love to get them collected in a giant calendar so I can read on per day. Some will click with you and some will fall flat, but there's enough thought-provoking material in there to make it worth the read.
Will revisit again.
Will revisit again.
msand3's review against another edition
4.0
Considering they were written at the end of the 18th century, these aphorisms feel surprisingly modern. Lichtenburg makes points that look forward to everything from Freudian psychoanalysis and the physics of relativity to existential philosophy and human powered flight. Despite its short length, this book took me about two months to read. I would only read a couple pages at a time and then sometimes re-read certain aphorisms, either to better understand them, or just for the pleasure of it.
jtth's review against another edition
5.0
I finished _The Waste Books_ by Lichtenberg. I really like this book. It’s a collection of paragraphs about the world, impressions of someone who sees themselves as part of the Enlightenment, but who feels society bears down on him and others in a way that’s repressive and against the better angels of our nature. His witty questions and answers are like a sieve for approaching the most important questions we face as humans. He prefigures a lot of more modern thought, where we can see traces of things to come, like embodied cognition and pragmatism. But it’s not only philosophical; there are jokes, insults, exasperated sighs, small cries of pain. And for anyone interested in writing, the book is a goldmine of the vicissitudes of that profession: too many books exist, written by people for whom the book is more of a means of personal extension, part of the business of being someone in society, rather than the accumulated evidence of work towards an end honestly and genuinely approached. Most of what he says about his present of the eighteenth century still applies to our present. It’s also a book that can be read in tiny little chunks, like a bathroom reader. I read a little bit of it every morning after waking up. It was like reading a witty letter from a friend trying to bolster me for the day.
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