Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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Art rests on a kind of religious sense, on a deep, steadfast earnestness; and on this account it unites so readily with religion.
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Lose this day loitering 'Twill be the same old story, Tomorrow and the next, Even more dilatory. Whatever you would do, Or dream of doing, begin it! Boldness has power, genius, and magic in it. Begin it now.
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Our foibles are really what make us lovable.
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People always fancy that we must become old to become wise; but, in truth, as years advance, it is hard to keep ourselves as wise as we were.
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The hero draws inspiration from the virtue of his ancestors.
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For usually people resist as long as they can to dismiss the fool they harbor in their bosom, they resist to confess a major mistake or to admit a truth that makes them despair.
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Confronted by outstanding merit, there is no way of saving one's ego except by love.
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How circumscribed is woman's destiny!
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Thou shalt abstain, Renounce, refrain.
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There is strong shadow where there is much light.
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A really great talent finds its happiness in execution.
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Love of truth shows itself in this, that a man knows how to find and value the good in everything.
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The fine emotions whence our lives we mold Lie in the earthly tumult dumb and cold.
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Wherever a man may happen to turn, whatever a man may undertake, he will always end up by returning to that path which nature has marked out for him.
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Too rigid scruples are concealed pride.
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I respect the man who knows distinctly what he wants.
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Poetry is the universal possession of mankind, revealing itself everywhere, and at all times, in hundreds and hundreds of men.
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None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
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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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No one can take from us the joy of the first becoming aware of something, the so-called discovery. But if we also demand the honor, it can be utterly spoiled for us, for we are usually not the first. What does discovery mean, and who can say that he has discovered this or that? After all it's pure idiocy to brag about priority; for it's simply unconscious conceit, not to admit frankly that one is a plagiarist.
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I must consider more closely this cycle of good and bad days which I find coursing within myself. Passion, attachment, the urge to action, inventiveness, performance, order all alternate and keep their orbit; cheerfulness, vigor, energy, flexibility and fatigue, serenity as well as desire. Nothing disturbs the cycle for I lead a simple life, but I must still find the time and order in which I rotate.
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We are our own aptest deceiver.
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Voluntary dependence is the wonderful form of existence, and how could that be possible without love?
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Where is the man who has the strength to be true, and to show himself as he is?