Before a German doctor examines a patient, there is the Anamnese, the systematic questioning of the patient about complaints and medical history. German health guides repeat the line that the case history is half the diagnosis. The health insurer Techniker Krankenkasse writes: “Eine sorgfältige Anamnese ist dabei die halbe Diagnose.” A careful case history is half the diagnosis.
aphorisms
The Will to a System
Ich mißtraue allen Systematikern und gehe ihnen aus dem Weg. Der Wille zum System ist ein Mangel an Rechtschaffenheit. I distrust all systematizers and avoid them. The will to a system is a lack of integrity. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote this in Götzen-Dämmerung, Twilight of the Idols.
Something Learned Every Day
The Göttingen physicist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg wrote in one of his notebooks: Man sollte sich nicht schlafen legen, ohne sagen zu können, daß man an dem Tage etwas gelernt hätte. (One should not go to sleep without being able to say that one has learned something that day.) He did not mean a new word. He meant, among other things, the Verbesserung eines Irrtums, in dem wir uns lange befunden haben, the correction of an error we have long held. This could not be done quickly before blowing out the candle. The occupations of the whole day had to aim at it.
In the same notebook stands his much-quoted line about change: Ich kann freilich nicht sagen, ob es besser werden wird wenn es anders wird; aber so viel kann ich sagen, es muß anders werden, wenn es gut werden soll. (I certainly cannot say whether it will get better if it gets different. But this much I can say: it must get different if it is to get good.)
Doubt Everything at Least Once
The physicist and writer Georg Christoph Lichtenberg kept notebooks that he called Sudelbücher, waste books. In one of them he wrote: Zweifle an allem wenigstens einmal, und wäre es auch der Satz: zweimal 2 ist 4. (Doubt everything at least once, even if it is the sentence: two times two is four.)
What Decides Is on the Pitch
Grau is’ im Leben alle Theorie – aber entscheidend is’ auf’m Platz. All theory in life is gray, but what decides is on the pitch. The saying is credited to Adi Preißler, who won the German championship with Borussia Dortmund in 1956 and 1957. Its first half echoes Goethe’s Faust: Grau, teurer Freund, ist alle Theorie. The second half, entscheidend is auf’m Platz, is in everyday use. It means that talk and plans count for little until the performance shows what they are worth.
Self-Praise Does Not Stink
Eigenlob stinkt, self-praise stinks, is a common German proverb. In November 2012 the IT magazine Computerwoche ran a career article under the opposite title, Eigenlob stinkt nicht. Its subtitle said that only those who draw attention to their performance get ahead at work. “Fachwissen ist wichtig, aber wer heute beruflich weiterkommen will, muss auf sich aufmerksam machen.” Specialist knowledge is important, but anyone who wants to get ahead today must draw attention to himself.
The title only works because every reader knows the proverb.
Words for the One Who Does Everything
Hansdampf in allen Gassen
Jack Steam in all the lanes. Duden defines a Hansdampf as someone who knows about everything, often only on the surface, and keeps busy with many things.
Wer vil handtwerk kan, der wird zuletzt ein armer man.
Whoever knows many trades will be a poor man in the end. Thomas Murner wrote it in his Schelmenzunft in the early sixteenth century.
Zehn Handwerke, das elfte der Bettelstab.
Ten trades, and the eleventh is the beggar’s staff.
Zwölf Handwerke, dreizehn Unglücke.
Twelve trades, thirteen misfortunes.
Tausendsassa
Roughly a thousand hurrahs, from an old cry of encouragement. Duden defines it as a person of many talents who is admired. It is the one word in the group that praises breadth.
Modesty Is an Ornament
Bescheidenheit ist eine Zier, doch weiter kommt man ohne ihr.
Modesty is an ornament, but you get further without it. The first half is the old virtue. The second half is the joke. It is also bad grammar, since ohne takes the accusative and correct German would be ohne sie. The error is kept for the rhyme, and it marks the second half as something no one quite says in earnest.
Sayings About Masters and Apprentices
Lehrjahre sind keine Herrenjahre.
Apprentice years are not years as a gentleman. The years of training are hard, and the apprentice is not yet his own master. In 2024, a young carpenter from Thuringia who had become European champion told a newspaper: Lehrjahre sind keine Herrenjahre – dieser alte Spruch demotiviert junge Leute. This old saying discourages young people.
Es ist noch kein Meister vom Himmel gefallen.
No master has yet fallen from the sky.
Übung macht den Meister.
Practice makes the master.
Neue Besen kehren gut.
New brooms sweep well. A newcomer starts with great zeal. DWDS notes that the saying is sometimes ironic.
Sayings About Time
Fünf Minuten vor der Zeit ist des Soldaten Pünktlichkeit.
Five minutes before the time is the soldier’s punctuality. A common variant says des Deutschen, the German’s.
Wer nicht kommt zur rechten Zeit, der muss sehn, was übrig bleibt.
Whoever does not come at the right time must see what is left over. It is said at the table.
Pünktlichkeit ist die Höflichkeit der Könige.
Punctuality is the politeness of kings. The saying is French in origin, L’exactitude est la politesse des rois, and is attributed to King Louis XVIII. The French word is exactitude, exactness.