Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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God help us -- for art is long, and life so short.
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What do people mean when they talk about unhappiness? It is not so much unhappiness as impatience that from time to time possesses men, and then they choose to call themselves miserable.
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I always seek the good that is in people and leave the bad to Him who made mankind and knows how to round off the corners.
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Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.
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There speaks the man of truly noble ways, Who will not listen to the words of praise. In modesty averse, and with deaf ears, He acts as though the others were his peers.
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Certain defects are necessary for the existence of individuality.
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Music is so elevated that it is beyond the reach of intellect and there flows from it an influence which is all-potent, and which noone can explain.
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No one should be rich except those who understand it.
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And I have again observed, my dear friend, in this trifling affair, that misunderstandings and neglect occasion more mischief in the world than even malice and wickedness. At all events, the two latter are of less frequent occurrence.
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To live within limits. To want one thing. Or a few things very much and love them dearly. Cling to them, survey them from every angle. Become one with them - that is what makes the poet, the artist, the human being.
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The loss of a much-prized treasure is only half felt when we have not regarded its tenure as secure.
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Enthusiasm is of the greatest value, so long as we are not carried away by it.
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If you inquire what people are like here, I must answer, "The same as everywhere."
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Ill-humor is nothing more than an inward feeling of our own want of merit, a dissatisfaction with ourselves which is always united with an envy that foolish vanity excites.
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How can we learn self-knowledge? Never by taking thought but rather by action. Try to do your duty and you'll soon discover what you're like.
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Talent develops in quiet, alone; character is sharpened in the torrent of the world.
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True works of art are a manifestation of the higher laws of nature.
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There are two things parents should give their children roots and wings. Roots to give them bearing and a sense of belonging, but also wings to help free them from constraints and prejudices and give them other ways to travel (or rather, to fly).
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The present moment is a powerful goddess.
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What government is the best? That which teaches us to govern ourselves. [Ger., Welche Regierung die beste sei? Diejenige die uns lehrt uns selbst zu regieren.]
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Presents at once? That's good. He is sure to succeed.
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A stated truth loses its grace, but a repeated error appears insipid and ridiculous.
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As soon as any one belongs to a narrow creed in science, every unprejudiced and true perception is gone.
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The soul is indestructible and its activity will continue through eternity. It is like the sun, which, to our eyes, seems to set at night; but it has in reality only gone to diffuse its light elsewhere.