Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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The old lose one of the greatest privileges of man, for they are no longer judged by their contemporaries.
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Seeking with the soul the land of the Greeks.
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Beauty is a primeval phenomenon, which itself never makes its appearance, but the reflection of which is visible in a thousand different utterances of the creative mind, and is as various as nature herself.
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It is the nature of grace always to fill spaces that have been empty.
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Smoothly and lightly the golden seed by the furrow is covered.
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The proper place for liberality is in the realm of the emotions.
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Hatred is active displeasure, envy passive. We need not wonder that envy turns to soon to hatred.
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If a man writes a book, let him set down only what he knows. I have guesses enough of my own.
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Talk well of the absent whenever you have the opportunity.
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If you are convinced of a matter, you must take sides or you don't deserve to succeed.
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Never let a day pass without looking at some perfect work of art, hearing some great piece of music and reading, in part, some great book.
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Everything in science depends on what one calls an aperch, on becoming aware of what is at the bottom of the phenomena. Such becoming aware is infinitely fertile.
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The beginning of faith is the beginning of fruitfulness; but the beginning of unbelief, however glittering, is empty.
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Writing is busy idleness.
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Who strives always to the utmost, him can we save.
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Without my attempts in natural science, I should never have learned to know mankind such as it is. In nothing else can we so closely approach pure contemplation and thought, so closely observe the errors of the senses and of the understanding, the weak and strong points of character.
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Oh happy he who still can hope in our day to breathe the truth while plunged in seas of error! What we don't know is really what we need, and what we know is of no use to us whatever!
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Piety, like nobility, has its aristocracy.
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Hope is the second soul of the unhappy.
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This is why we may say that those who parade piety as a purpose and an aim mostly turn into hypocrites
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A man's foibles are what makes him lovable.
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A state of true and universal tolerance is best ensured by leaving alone the peculiarities of men and peoples.
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Lose the day loitering, 'twill be the same story To-morrow, and the next more dilatory, For indecision brings its own delays, And days are lost lamenting o'er lost days. Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute! What you can do, or think you can, begin it! Only engage, and then the mind grows heated; Begin it, and the work will be completed.
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A judge who cannot punish, in the end associates themselves with the criminal.