Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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One lives but once in the world.
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And step by step, along the path of life, There's nothing true but Heaven.
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Generally speaking, an author's style is a faithful copy of his mind. If you would write a lucid style, let there first be light in your own mind; and if you would write a grand style, you ought to have a grand character.
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Few are open to conviction, but the majority of men are open to persuasion.
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I am not omniscient, but I know a lot.
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The proper place for liberality is in the realm of the emotions.
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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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I can promise to be sincere, but I cannot promise to be impartial.
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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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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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To know someone here or there with whom you can feel there is understanding in spite of distances or thoughts expressed That can make life a garden.
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Devote each day to the object then in time and every evening will find something done.
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What man does not know, Or has not thought of, Wanders in the night Through the labyrinth of the mind.
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Piety, like nobility, has its aristocracy.
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To measure up to all that is demanded of him, a man must overestimate his capacities.
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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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Excellence is rarely found, more rarely valued.
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A man's name is not like a mantle which merely hangs about him...but a perfectly fitting garment, which, like the skin, has grown over him, at which one cannot rake and scrape without injuring the man himself.
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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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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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I can tell you, honest friend, what to believe: believe life; it teaches better that book or orator.
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Whatever liberates our spirit, without also giving us mastery over ourselves, is destructive.
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Collectors are happy people.