Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel — German Poet born on March 10, 1772, died on January 12, 1829

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel was a German poet, literary critic, philosopher, philologist and indologist. With his older brother, August Wilhelm Schlegel, he was one of the main figures of the Jena romantics. He was a zealous promoter of the Romantic movement and inspired Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Adam Mickiewicz and Kazimierz Brodziński. Schlegel was a pioneer in Indo-European studies, comparative linguistics, in what became known as Grimm's law, and morphological typology. As a young man he was an atheist, a radical, and an individualist. Ten years later, the same Schlegel converted to Catholicism. Around 1810 he was a diplomat and journalist in the service of Metternich, surrounded by monks and pious men of society... (wikipedia)

Irony is a clear consciousness of an eternal agility, of the infinitely abundant chaos.
Many a witty inspiration is like the surprising reunion of befriended thoughts after a long separation.
Wit is the appearance, the external flash of imagination. Thus its divinity, and the witty character of mysticism.
Man is a creative retrospection of nature upon itself.
Beauty is that which is simultaneously attractive and sublime.