Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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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.
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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.
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To have a positive religion is not necessary. To be in harmony with yourself and the universe is what counts, and this is possible without positive and specific formulation in words.
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The art of living rightly is like all arts; it must be learned and practiced with incessant care.
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Any trifle is enough to entertain two lovers.
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Oh, happy he who still hopes he can emerge from Error's boundless sea! - Faust.
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You must be either the servant or the master, the hammer or the anvil.
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The world is so full of simpletons and madmen, that one need not seek them in a madhouse.
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I am certain that I have been here as I am now a thousand times before, and I hope to return a thousand times... Man is a dialogue between nature and God. On other planets this dialogue will doubtless be of a higher and profounder character. What is lacking is Self-Knowledge. After that the rest will follow.
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Character - in things great and small - is indicated when a man (or person) pursues with sustained follow-through what he feels himself capable of doing.
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Hold your powers together for something good and let everything go that is for you without result and is not suited to you.
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Forget not that the man who cannot enjoy his own natural gifts in silence, and find his reward in the exercise of them, will generally find himself badly off.
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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.
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We don't get to know people when they come to us; we must go to them to find out what they are like.
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One says a lot in vain, refusing;The other mainly hears the 'No.'
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Misunderstandings and neglect create more confusion in this world than trickery and malice. At any rate, the last two are certainly much less frequent.
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Chess is the touchstone of intellect.
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If children grew up according to early indications, we should have nothing but geniuses.
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Hypotheses are the scaffolds which are erected in front of a building and removedd when the building is completed. They are indispensable to the worker; but the worker must not mistake the scaffolding for the building.
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Plunge boldly into the thick of life!
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Each one of us must carry within the proof of immortality, it cannot be given from outside of us. To be sure, everything in natureis change but behind the change there is something eternal.
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On top of the world, or in the depths of despair.
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Know thyself? If I knew myself I would run away.
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There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.