Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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There are but two roads that lead to an important goal and to the doing of great things: strength and perseverance. Strength is the lot of but a few privileged men; but austere perseverance, harsh and continuous, may be employed by the smallest of us and rarely fails of its purpose, for its silent power grows irresistibly greater with time.
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A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.
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Nature's crown is Love. Only through Love can we come near her. She puts gulfs between all things, and all things strive to be interfused. She isolates everything, that she may draw everything together. With a few draughts from the cup of Love she repays for a life full of trouble.
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Common sense is the genius of humanity.
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Life teaches us to be less harsh with ourselves and with others.
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Und doch sehr oft, wenn wir uns von dem Beabsichtigten für ewig getrennt sehen, haben wir schon auf unserm Wege irgend ein anderes Wünschenswerthe gefunden, etwas uns Gemäßes, mit dem uns zu begnügen wir eigentlich geboren sind.
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People say, "Artist, study nature!" But it is no small matter to develop what is noble out of what is common, beauty out of what lacks form.
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Sing it not in mournful numbers.
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Who wants to understand the poemMust go to the land of poetry;Who wishes to understand the poetMust go to the poet's land.
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Knowst thou the land where the lemon trees bloom,Where the gold orange glows in the deep thicket's gloom,Where a wind ever soft from the blue heaven blows,And the groves are of laurel and myrtle and rose?
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Say what you will of fortitude, but show me the man who can patiently endure the laughter of fools when they have obtained an advantage over him. 'Tis only when their nonsense is without foundation that one can suffer it without complaint.
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Es gibt Fälle, ... wo jeder Trost niederträchtig und Verzweiflung Pflicht ist.
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Desire is the presentiment of our inner abilities, and the forerunner of our ultimate accomplishments.
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I had toward the poetic art a peculiar relation which was only practical after I had cherished in my mind for a long time a subject which possessed me, a model which inspired me, a predecessor who attracted me, until at length, after I had molded it.
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There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.
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The first and last thing demanded of genius is love of truth.
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The eternal feminine draws us on high.
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Alles Gescheite ist schon gedacht worden. Man muss nur versuchen, es noch einmal zu denken.
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Willst du immer weiterschweifen? Sieh, das Gute liegt so nah.Lerne nur das Glück ergreifen,denn das Glück ist immer da.
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Nur der verdient sich Freiheit wie das LebenDer täglich sie erobern muß.
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Time is my estate: to Time I'm heir.
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A teacher who can arouse a feeling for one single good action, for one single good poem, accomplishes more than he who fills our memory with rows on rows of natural objects, classified with name and form.
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The world of empirical morality consists for the most part of nothing but ill will and envy.
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One needs only to get old to become milder; I don't see anyone make a mistake I hadn't also made.