Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
-
People are so constituted that everybody would rather undertake what they see others do, whether they have an aptitude for it or not.
-
A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.
-
It is not enough to have knowledge; one must apply it. It is not enough to have wishes; one must also accomplish it.
-
A reasonable man needs only to practice moderation to find happiness.
-
Good children's literature appeals not only to the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child.
-
Ich bin der Geist der stets verneint.
-
Each indecision brings its own delays and days are lost lamenting over lost days... What you can do or think you can do, begin it. For boldness has magic, power, and genius in it.
-
Writing is busy idleness.
-
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.
-
Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiss nichts von seiner eigenen.He who is ignorant of foreign languages, knows not his own.
-
Where there is much light, the shadows are deepest. [Ger., Wo viel Licht is, ist starker Schatten.]
-
What chance gathers, she easily scatters. A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together.
-
I can tell you, honest friend, what to believe: believe life; it teaches better that book or orator.
-
How many years must a man do nothing, before he can at all know what is to be done and how to do it!
-
So then the year is repeating its old story again. We are come once more, thank God! to its most charming chapter. The violets and the Mayflowers are as its inscriptions or vignettes. It always makes a pleasant impression on us, when we open again at these pages of the book of life.
-
A useless life is an early death.
-
It is a great pleasure to transport one's-self into the spirit of the times; to see how a wise man has thought before us, and to what a glorious height we have at last carried it.
-
Collectors are happy people.
-
A state of true and universal tolerance is best ensured by leaving alone the peculiarities of men and peoples.
-
The greatest act of faith takes place when a man finally decides that he is not God.
-
Hatred is active displeasure, envy passive. We need not wonder that envy turns to soon to hatred.
-
When you are in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude. We don't get to know people when they come to us; we must go to them to find out what they are like.
-
The iron hand of necessity commands, and her stern decree is supreme law, to which the gods even must submit. In deep silence rules the uncounselled sister of eternal fate. Whatever she lays upon thee, endure; perform whatever she commands.
-
And step by step, along the path of life, There's nothing true but Heaven.