| Erbarme dich, Mein Gott, um meiner Zähren willen! Schaue hier, Herz und Auge weint vor dir Bitterlich. Nr. 39, Arie (Alt) |
Have mercy, Lord, on me, regard my bitter weeping, Look at me, Heart and eyes both weep to Thee Bitterly. Nr. 39, Aria (Alto) |
| Mache dich, mein Herze, rein, Ich will Jesum selbst begraben. Denn er soll nunmehr in mir Für und für Seine süße Ruhe haben. Welt, geh aus, laß Jesum ein! Nr. 65, Arie (Bass) |
Make thee clean, my heart, from
sin; I would my Lord inter. May He find rest in me, Ever in eternity, His sweet repose be here. World, depart; let Jesus in! Nr. 65, Aria (Bass) |
| Ich will nur dir zu Ehren leben Mein Heiland, gib mir Kraft und Mut, Daß es mein Herz rech eifrig tut. Stärke mich, Deine Gnade würdiglich Und mit Danken zu erheben. Kantate 4, Am Neujahrstage, Nr. 41, Arie (Tenor) |
Only to honor thee shall I live, My Savior, give me strength and courage, So that my heart may do so with zeal. Strengthen me, That I may extol thy grace Fittingly and thankfully. Cantata 4, For the Feast of Circumcision, Nr. 41, Aria (Tenor) |
| Ohne Hast, aber ohne Rast. | Without haste, but without rest. |
| Una alla volta, per carità! Figaro, Atto Primo, Nr. 2, Cavatina |
One at a time, for heaven's sake! Figaro, Act One, Nr. 2, Cavatina |
| Kein Musik is ja nicht auf Erden Die unsrer verglichen kann werden. Die englischen Stimmen ermuntern die Sinnen! Daß alles fuer Freuden erwacht. Symphony No. 4, Fourth movement |
No music on earth can compare with ours. The voices of the angels so lift up the spirits that everything awakens in joy. Symphony No. 4, Fourth movement |
| Wenn stets ein Gott gnießen kann, bin ich dem Wechsel untertan. Tannhäuser, Erster Aufzug, Zweite Szene |
Though a god can savor joy forever, I am subject to change. Tannhäuser, Act One, Scene Two |
| Allmächt'ger Vater, blick herab! Hör mich im Staube zu dir flehn! Die Macht, die mir dein Wunder gab, laß jetzt noch nicht zugrunde gehn! Du stärktest mich, du gabst mir hohe Kraft, du liehest mir erhabne Eigenschaft: zu hellen den, der niedrig denkt, zu hebe, was im Staub versenkt. Du wandeltest des Volkes Schmach zu Hoheit, Glanz und Majestät! O Gott, vernichte nicht das Werk, das dir sum Preis errichtet steht! Ach, löse Herr, die tiefe Nacht, die noch der Menschen Seelen deckt! Schenk uns den Abglanz deiner Macht, die sich in Ewigkeit erstrect! Mein Herr un Vater, o blicke herab! Senke deiin Auge aus deinen Höhn! Mein Gott, der hohe Kraft mir gab, erhöre mein inbrünstig Flehn! (Fünfter Aufzug, erster Auftritt) |
Almighty Father, look down upon me! Hear me as I plead in the dust! Do not let me lose that power which your miracle wrought me. You strengthened me, gave me supreme power, gave me sublime qualities; to bring light to those who were lowly, to raise up what had fallen into the dust. You transformed the people's shame into greatness, splendor and majesty! O God, do not destroy what has been erected to your glory! O Lord, dissolve the dark night which envelops men's souls! Let shine upon us the eternal reflection of your power! Lord and Father, look down upon me! Lower your gaze from your lofty heights! O God, who gave me such mighty strength, give ear to my fervent pleas! (Act Five, Scene One, Rienzi's prayer) |
| Ach, der das Werk ich wirkte, den Zauber, der ihm entzuckt, den Zauber erriet ich nicht recht! (Mime, Dritte Szene) |
Ah! Though I fashioned the work, the spell that would bind him, that spell I did not guess aright! (Mime, Scene Three) |
| Traulich und treu ist's nur in der Tiefe; falsch und feig ist, was dort oben sich freut. (Die drei Rheintöchter, Vierte Szene) |
Now only in the depths is there tenderness and truth; false and fainthearted are those who revel above. (The three Rheinmaidens, Scene Four) |
| Um der Macht und Herrschaft müssigen Tand (Fricka, Zweite Szene) |
For the idle toys of might and domination (Fricka, Scene Two) |
| Was du bist, bist du nur durch Verträge; bedungen ist, wohl bedacht deine macht. (Fasolt, Zweite Szene) |
What you are, you are only by contracts: limited and well defined is your power. (Fasolt, Scene Two) |
| Zwangvolle Plage! Müh' ohne Zweck! (Mime, Erster Aufzug, Vorspiel, Erste Szene) |
Enforced drudgery! Endless toil! (Mime, Act One, Prelude, Scene One) |
| Ewig gehorchen sie alle des Speeres starkem Herrn. (Wanderer, Erster Aufzug, Zweite Szene) |
They all forever obey the mightly lord of the spear. (Wanderer, Act One, Scene Two) |
| Alles ist nach seiner Art, an ihr wirst du nichts ändern. Was anders ist, das lerne nun auch! (Wanderer, Zweiter Aufzug, Vorspiel, Erster Szene) |
Everything goes its own way; you can alter nothing. More than that you will soon learn too! (Wanderer, Act Two, Prelude, Scene One) |
| Dein Hirn brütete nicht, was du vollbracht. (Fafner, Zweiter Aufzug, Zweite Szene) |
Your brain did not conceive what you have carried out. (Fafner, Act Two, Scene Two) |
| Der Kunst droht allweil Fall un Schmach, läuft sie der Gunst des Volkes nach. (Kothner, Erster Aufzug, Dritte Szene) |
Art is constantly threatened with downfall and disgrace if it runs after the favors of the people. (Kothner, Act One, Scene Three) |
| Wollt ihr nach Regeln messen, was nicht nach eurer Regeln Lauf, der eignen Spur vergessen, sucht davon erst die Regeln auf! (Hans Sachs, Erster Aufzug, Dritte Szene) |
If you wish to measure according to its rules something which does not accord with your rules, forget your own ways, you must first seek its rules! (Hans Sachs, Act One, Scene Three) |
| Bin gar ein arm einfältig Mann! (Hans Sachs, Zweiter Aufzug, Dritte Szene) |
I'm but a poor, simple man. (Hans Sachs, Act Two, Scene Three) |
| Der Regel Güte daraus man erwägt, daß sie auch mal'ne Ausnahm verträgt. (Hans Sachs, Dritter Aufzug, Fünfte Szene) |
One weighs the value of rules by letting them occasionally suffer an exception. (Hans Sachs, Act Three, Scene Five) |
| Non l'avrei giammai
creduto; Ma farò quel che potrò. (Don Giovanni, Atto Secondo, Scena Quinta, Finale) |
I never would have believed it, But I will do what I can (Don Juan, Act Two, Scene Five, Finale) |
| Altre cure più gravi di
queste, Altra brama quaggiù mi guidò! Risolvi! Pentiti, cangia vita, È l'ultimo momento! Ah! tempo più non v'è! (La Statua, Atto Secondo, Scena Quinta, Finale) |
Other more serious considerations have caused me to come here! Make up your mind! Repent! Change your ways, For this is your last hour! Ah, your time is up! (The Statue, Act Two, Scene Five, Finale) |
|
Ó marno, marno, marno to je a prázdnota je v srdci mém, ... mne voda chladná porodila a nemám, nemám vá\/sn\/e té! (Rusalka, Jednání druhé) |
O, useless, useless, useless it is, And emptiness is in my heart, ... I have been born of tepid water And passion that I don't possess! (Rusalka, Act Two) |
| Rekurrieren,
appellieren, reklamieren, revidieren, rezipieren, subvertieren, devolvieren, involvieren, protestieren, liquidieren, exzerpieren, extorquieren, arbitrieren, resümieren, exkulpieren, inkulpieren, kalkulieren, konzipieren, und Sie müssen triumphieren! (Dr. Blind, Erster Akt, No. 2 Terzett) |
Petition, appeal, complain, review, prescribe, subvert, devolve, involve, protest, settle, extract, extort, arbitrate, sum up, exculpate, inculpate, calculate, draft, and you will surely win! (Dr. Blind, Act One, Nr. 2 Trio) |
|
Soll dir das Gefängnis nicht schädlich sein, mußt du etwas tun, dich zu zerstreun! (Dr. Falke, Erster Akt, Nr. 3 Duett) |
If prison is to leave you unscathed you must do something to amuse yourself! (Dr. Falke, Act One, Nr. 3 Duet) |
| Glücklich is, wer
vergißt, was doch nicht zu ändern ist. (Alfred, Erster Akt, Nr. 5 Finale) |
Happy
is the person who can forget what cannot be altered. (Alfred, Act One, Nr. 5 Finale) |
| Brüderlein,
Brüderlein und Schwesterlein laßt das traute »Du« uns schenken, für die Ewigkeit, immer so wie heut, wen wir morgen noch dran denken! Erst ein Kuß, dann ein Du, Du, Du, Du, immerzu! (Dr. Falke, Zweiter Akt, Nr. 11 Finale) |
Dear
brothers, dear brothers and sisters let us confer on each other the familiar ``Du'', for all eternity, just like tonight, when we think about it again tomorrow! First a kiss and then a Du, Du, Du, Du, for ever! (Dr. Falke, Act Two, Nr. 11 Finale) |
| War auch nicht grad
alles so, Wir wollen ihm den Glauben, Der ihn beglückt, nicht rauben. (Alfred, Dritter Akt, Nr. 16 Finale) |
Well,
though it was not quite like that, we won't rob him of the illusion that's giving him such joy. (Alfred, Act Three, Nr. 16 Finale) |
In the thirties, under the demoralizing influence of quantum-theoretic
perturbation theory, the mathematics required of a theoretical
physicist was reduced to a rudimentary knowledge of the Latin and
Greek alphabets.
Cited by R. F. Streater and A. S. Wightman in PCT, Spin and
Statistics, and All That, New York: W. A. Benjamin, 1964, p. 31.
Dirac's method of treating the interaction between the electromagnetic field and the atom was perturbation theory, i.e., the expansion of the relevant quantitites in a power series in the charge of the electron (or equivalently the fine structure constant 1/137). The first nonvanishing term of such an expansion is, as we know today, in excellent agreement with experiment. In the higher orders, however, Ehrenfest's prediction [of infinities] became true. They are all infinite or at least, as one today says euphemistically, they are indeterminate. The theory did not seem to have any content at all besides the ``first order of perturbation theory'', and this perturbation theory was the only tool which allowed the extraction of sensible results. This last statement is essentially true today.
...
It is clear that, while the situation was that unclear, quantum electrodynamics was a happy playground where all sorts of general ideas were produced and at times very impressive and nontrivial mathematical methods could be invented to remedy the situation. Many of the more general and philosophical proposals have survived to this day and are still praised as medicine against all sorts of ills.
...
Renormalized quantum electrodynamics is by far the most successful theory we have today. ... This very impressive fact, however, does not make the whole situation less strange. We start out from equations which do not make sense. We apply certain prescriptions to their solutions and end up with a power series of which we do not know that it makes sense. The first few terms of this power series, however, give the best predictions we know. Things do not become more understandable by the fact that the success of quantum electrodynamics is completely singular.
...
The most impressive feature of the development of quantum electrodynamics is the astonishing ability of the theory to survive. Exactly from what this faculty derives is unknown.
from The General Theory of Quantized Fields, Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society, 1965, pp. xii-xiii.
I think, in coming centuries it will be considered a great oddity in the history of mathematics that the first exact theory of infinitesimals was developed 300 years after the invention of the differential calculus. I am inclined to believe that this oddity has something to do with another oddity relating to the same span of time, namely the fact that such problems as Fermat's, which can be written down in ten symbols of elementary arithmetic, are still unsolved 300 years after they have been posed. Perhaps the omission mentioned is largely responsible for the fact that, compared to the enormous development of abstract mathematics, the solution of concrete numerical problems was left far behind.
Non-standard Analysis, revised edition, p. x, Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1974.
[T]hese young men unhappily fail to understand that the sacrifice of life is, in many cases, the easiest of all sacrifices, and that to sacrifice, for instance, five or six years of their seething youth to hard and tedious study, if only to multiply tenfold their powers of serving the truth and the cause they have set before them as their goal, such a sacrifice is utterly beyond the strength of many of them.
The Brothers Karamazov, Chapter 5
The function of Reason is to promote the art of life.
The Function of Reason, p. 2
I now state the thesis that the explanation of this active attack on the environment is a three-fold urge: (i) to live, (ii) to live well, (iii) to live better. In fact the art of life is first to be alive, secondly to be alive in a satisfactory way, and thirdly to acquire an increase in satisfaction. It is at this point of our argument that we have to recur to the function of Reason, namely the promotion of the art of life. The primary function of Reason is the direction of the attack on the environment.
The Function of Reason, p. 5
The reign of Reason is vacillating, vague, and dim. But it is there.
The Function of Reason, p. 72
The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do.
Contingencies of Reinforcement: A theoretical analysis, New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1969, p. 288.