Germany... a country whose idea of a bedtime story is two children being left to die in the forest, before nearly being cooked and eaten and then murdering an old woman.
FairytalesJohn Oliver in Last Week TonightGermany... where the national motto is, "let's stick to the present, shall we?"
John Oliver in Last Week TonightWhenever the literary German dives into a sentence, that is the last you are going to see of him till he emerges on the other side of his Atlantic with his verb in his mouth.
Mark TwainI don't believe there is anything in the whole earth that you can't learn in Berlin except the German language.
BerlinMark TwainThe Germans are exceedingly fond of Rhine wines; they are put up in tall, slender bottles, and are considered a pleasant beverage. One tells them from vinegar by the label.
WineMark Twain in A Tramp AbroadI went often to look at the collection of curiosities in Heidelberg Castle, and one day I surprised the keeper of it with my German. I spoke entirely in that language. He was greatly interested; and after I had talked a while he said my German was very rare, possibly a 'unique'; and wanted to add it to his museum.
HeidelbergMark Twain in A Tramp AbroadLife is too short to learn German.
Richard Porson (britischer klassischer Philologe), 25.12.1759 - 25.09.1808Look at Berlin, where Germans and Americans learned to work together and trust each other less than three years after facing each other on the field of battle.
America, BerlinBarack ObamaGerman literacy ought to be gently and reverently set aside among the dead languages, for only the dead have time to learn it.
LanguagesMark Twain