Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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Any trifle is enough to entertain two lovers.
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There is but one poetry-true poetry.
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Man usually believes, if only words he hears, That also with them goes material for thinking.
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Fortunately, we can take in only so much misfortune; what exceeds that limit either destroys us or leaves us indifferent.
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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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Habit is the most imperious of all masters.
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I do not speak of what I cannot praise.
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The Bible grows more beautiful, as we grow in our understanding of it.
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If you live criticizing people, you won't have time to love them.
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There is no trifling with nature; it is always true, grave, and severe; it is always in the light, and the faults and errors fall to our share. It defies incompetency, but reveals its secrets to the competent, the truthful, and the pure.
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None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
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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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Hatred is partial, but love is still more so.
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It is not enough to have knowledge; one must apply it. It is not enough to have wishes; one must also accomplish it.
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Every person above the ordinary has a certain mission that they are called to fulfill.
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Plunge boldly into the thick of life!
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National literature does not mean much these days; now is the age of world literature, and every one must contribute to hasten thearrival of that age.
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Superstition is part of the poetry of life.
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The spirit from which we act is the principal matter.
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If all these devils really exist it proves there must be angels, too.
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Self-love exaggerates our faults as well as our virtues.
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In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm... in the real world all rests on perseverance.
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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.
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One can stand anything except a succession of ordinary days.