Who built the Thebes of the seven gates?
In the books you will find the names of kings.
Did the kings haul up the lumps of rock?...
Where, the evening that the wall of China was finished
Did the masons go?

Wer baute das siebentorige Theben?
In den Büchern stehen die Namen von Königen.
Haben die Könige die Felsbrocken herbeigeschleppt?...
Wohin gingen an dem Abend, wo die chinesische Mauer fertig war,
Die Maurer?

Bertolt Brecht

Questions from a Worker Who Reads

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More information about this quote

Topic

Great man theory of history Seven wonders of the world Workers History

Author

Bertolt Brecht

Source

Questions from a Worker Who Reads

Medium

Poem

Genre

Political literature

Statement Type

Question

Language

German

Time

1936 1930s 20th century

Occupation

Playwright Poet Writer

From

Germany Europe

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Brecht, Bertolt. "Fragen eines lesenden Arbeiters [Questions of a Reading Worker]." Das Wort, 1936.

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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1930s

There is no such thing as justice-in or out of court.

Clarence Darrow

More information about this quote
Topic
Elusiveness of justice Justice
Speaker
Clarence Darrow
Medium
Interview
Language
English
Time
1936 1930s 20th century
Authentication Score 1
Citation

Darrow, Clarence. Interview in Chicago. Apr. 1936.

Another quote about History

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

George Santayana

The Life of Reason

More information about this quote
Topic
Learning from the past History The past

Author

George Santayana
Source
The Life of Reason
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
English
Time
1905 1900s 20th century
Authentication Score 2
Citation

Santayana, George. The Life of Reason: Introduction and Reason in Common Sense, edited by Marianne S. Wokeck and Martin A. Coleman. Vol. 7, The MIT Press, 2011, bk. 1, ch. 12. Originally published by Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905

Another quote originally in German

Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Superman-a rope over an abyss.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

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Reqd Thus Spoke Zarathustra at Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Nature of man The human condition

Author

Friedrich Nietzsche
Source
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
German
Time
1883 1880s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Also sprach Zarathustra: Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen [Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None]. Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner, 1883, pt. 1.

Current Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Nietzsche: Thus Spoke Zarathustra, edited by Robert Pippin, translated by Adrian Del Caro. Cambridge University Press, 2006, pt. 1.

Another quote of the following type Question

What is originality? To see something that has no name as yet and hence cannot be mentioned although it stares us all in the face.

Friedrich Nietzsche

The Gay Science

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Read The Gay Science at Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Originality Perception Observation Vision

Author

Friedrich Nietzsche
Source
The Gay Science
Genre
Philosophical literature
Statement Type
Question
Language
German
Time
1882 1880s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Die frohliche Wissenschaft [The Gay Science]. Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner, 1882, bk. 3, no. 261.

Current Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Joyous Science, translated by R. Kevin Hill. Penguin Classics, 2019, bk. 3, no. 261.