Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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Every day I observe more and more the folly of judging of others by ourselves; and I have so much trouble with myself, and my own heart is in such constant agitation, that I am well content to let others pursue their own course, if they only allow me the same privilege.
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The happiest man is the one who finds happiness at home.
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Who is sure of their own motives can in confidence advance or retreat.
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Take life too seriously, and what is it worth? If the morning wake us to no new joys, if the evening bring us not the hopes of new pleasures, is it worth while to dress and undress? Does the sun shine on me today that I may reflect on yesterday? That I may endeavor to foresee and control what can neither be foreseen nor controlled - the destiny of tomorrow?
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If a poet would work politically, he must give himself up to a party; and so soon as he does that, he is lost as a poet.
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Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.
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There is no patriotic art and no patriotic science.
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As long as you are not aware of the continual law of Die and Be Again, you are merely a vague guest on a dark Earth.
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Nothing is worse than active ignorance.
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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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Presents at once? That's good. He is sure to succeed.
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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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Normally, people believe that, if they hear just words, that these words must lead to some thought.
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True works of art are a manifestation of the higher laws of nature.
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From inaccessible mountain range by way of desert untrod by human foot to the ends of the unknown seas, the breath of the everlasting creative spirit is felt, rejoicing over every speck of dust that hearkens to it and lives.
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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.
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Tis Lilith. Who? Adam's first wife is she. Beware the lure within her lovely tresses, The splendid sole adornment of her hair; When she succeeds therewith a youth to snare, Not soon again she frees him from her jesses.
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Unlike grown ups, children have little need to deceive themselves.
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Talent develops in quiet, alone; character is sharpened in the torrent of the world.
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The smallest hair throws its shadow.
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No one is more of a slave than he who thinks himself free without being so.
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People are always talking about originality; but what do they mean? As soon as we are born, the world begins to work upon us; and this goes on to the end. And after all, what can we call our own, except energy, strength, and will? If I could give an account of all that I owe to great predecessors and contemporaries, there would be but a small balance in my favor.
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Were the eye not of the sun, How could we behold the light? If God's might and ours were not as one, How could His work enchant our sight?
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The follies of the wise man are known to himself, but hidden from the world.