Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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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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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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The spirit from which we act is the principal matter.
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You must be either the servant or the master, the hammer or the anvil.
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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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We are our own aptest deceiver.
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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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The philosophers must station themselves in the middle.
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I have heard myself accused of being an opponent, an enemy of mathematics, which no one can value more highly than I, for it accomplishes the very thing whose achievement has been denied me.
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A great scholar is seldom a great philosopher.
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Habit is the most imperious of all masters.
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If a man sets out to study all the laws, he will have no time left to transgress them.
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We are our own devils; we drive ourselves out of our Edens.
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A reasonable man needs only to practice moderation to find happiness.
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Der Irrthum verhält sich gegen das Wahre wie der Schlaf gegen das Wachen. Ich habe bemerkt, daß man aus dem Irren sich wie erquickt wieder zu dem Wahren hinwende.
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The first and last thing required of genius is the love of truth. [Ger., Das erste und letzte, was vom Genie gefordert wird, ist Wahreits-Liebe.]
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Certain flaws are necessary for the whole. It would seem strange if old friends lacked certain quirks.
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Oh, happy he who still hopes he can emerge from Error's boundless sea! - Faust.
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The Bible grows more beautiful, as we grow in our understanding of it.
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Every author in some way portrays himself in his works, even if it be against his will.
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Chess is the touchstone of intellect.
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Only the soul that loves is happy.
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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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Painting and tattooing the body is a return to animalism.