Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
-
Neither art thou the man to catch the fiend and hold him!
-
We can really respect a man only if he doesn't always look out for himself.
-
One alone does not help, but rather he who unites with many at the right moment.
-
When translating one must proceed up to the intranslatable; only then one becomes aware of the foreign nation and the foreign tongue.
-
Art is based on a strong sentiment of religion,--on a profound and mighty earnestness; hence it is so prone to co-operate with religion.
-
One can stand anything except a succession of ordinary days.
-
Nothing is good for a nation but that which arises from its own core and its own general wants, without apish imitation of another.
-
Art is in itself noble; that is why the artist has no fear of what is common. This, indeed, is already ennobled when he takes it up.
-
Thank God when He lays a burden on thee, and thank Him when He takes it off.
-
None are so hopelessly enslaved, as those who falsely believe they are free. The truth has been kept from the depth of their minds by masters who rule them with lies. They feed them on falsehoods till wrong looks like right in their eyes.
-
Men are much more apt to agree in what they do than in what they think.
-
Poetry is the universal possession of mankind, revealing itself everywhere, and at all times, in hundreds and hundreds of men.
-
A vain man can never be utterly ruthless: he wants to win applause and therefore he accommodates himself to others.
-
A useless life is an early death.
-
Translators are like busy match-makers: they sing the praises of some half-veiled beauty, and extol her charms, and arouse an irresistible longing for the original.
-
Over all the mountain tops is peace. In all treetops you perceive scarcely a breath. The little birds in the forest are silent. Wait then; soon, you too, will have peace.
-
Even dirt glitters when the sun is shining upon it.
-
We cannot and must not get rid of nor deny our characteristics. But we can give them shape and direction.
-
One never goes further than when they do not know where they are going.
-
How circumscribed is woman's destiny!
-
If we could do away with death, we wouldn't object; to do away with capital punishment will be more difficult. Were that to happen, we would reinstate it from time to time.
-
One says a lot in vain, refusing;The other mainly hears the 'No.'
-
Everything which is properly business we must keep carefully separate from life. Business requires earnestness and method; life must have a freed handling.
-
Analysis and synthesis are both as necessary to the thinking spirit as inspiration and expiration to the organism.