Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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A mathematician is only perfect insofar as he is a perfect man, sensitive to the beauty of truth.
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The proper place for liberality is in the realm of the emotions.
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An angel! Nonsense! Everybody so describes his mistress; and yet I find it impossible to tell you how perfect she is, or why she is so perfect: suffice it to say she has captivated all my senses.
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Few are open to conviction, but the majority of men are open to persuasion.
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Mysterious in the light of day, nature retains her veil, despite our clamours: That which she does not willingly display cannot be wrenched from her with levers, screws and hammers.
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There are people who pay attention to the weaknesses of their friends; that is to no avail. I have always closely watched and profited from the strengths of my adversaries.
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If you wish to advance into the infinite, explore the finite in all directions.
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A king there was once reigning, Who had a goodly flea, Him loved he without feigning, As his own son were he!
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With little wit and ease to suit them, They whirl in narrow circling trails, Like kittens playing with their tails.
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I am not omniscient, but I know a lot.
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And step by step, along the path of life, There's nothing true but Heaven.
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Modern poets add a lot of water to their ink.
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There is nothing new on earth For a person who lives long and experiences much. In my years of youthful wandering I have seen crystallized people.
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Each has his own happiness in his hands, as the artist handles the rude clay he seeks to reshape it into a figure; yet it is the same with this art as with all others: only the capacity for it is innate; the art itself must be learned and painstakingly practiced.
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I can promise to be sincere, but I cannot promise to be impartial.
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Excellence is rarely found, more rarely valued.
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This is the true measure of love, When we believe that we alone can love, That no one could ever have loved so before us, And that no one will ever love in the same way after us.
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Plants and flowers of the commonest kind can form a pleasing diary, because nothing which calls back to us the remembrance of a happy moment can be insignificant.
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By the artist's seizing any one object from nature, that object no longer is part of nature. One can go so far as to say that theartist creates the object in that very moment by emphasizing its significant, characteristic, and interesting aspects or, rather, by adding the higher values.
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Die Kunst an und für sich selbst ist edel; deßhalb fürchtet sich der Künstler nicht vor dem Gemeinen. Ja indem er es aufnimmt, ist es schon geadelt, und so sehen wir die größten Künstler mit Kühnheit ihr Majestätsrecht ausüben.
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Man... knows only when he is satisfied and when he suffers, and only his sufferings and his satisfactions instruct him concerning himself, teach him what to seek and what to avoid. For the rest, man is a confused creature; he knows not whence he comes or whither he goes, he knows little of the world, and above all, he knows little of himself.
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Whatever liberates our spirit, without also giving us mastery over ourselves, is destructive.
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A good person, striving dimly, Is well aware of the right path.
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As beauteous is the world, and many a joy Floats through its wide dominion. But, alas, When we would seize the winged good, it flies.