Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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The mediator of the inexpressible is the work of art.
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No one should be rich except those who understand it.
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It would be a lowly art that allowed itself to be understood all at once.
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Humor is one of the elements of genius--admirable as an adjunct; but as soon as it becomes dominant, only a surrogate for genius.
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If a man knows where to get good advice, it is as though he could supply it himself.
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For the butterfly, mating and propagation involve the sacrifice of life, for the human being, the sacrifice of beauty.
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It is ever true that he who does nothing for others, does nothing for himself.
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Everything perfect in its kind has to transcend its own kind, it must become something different and incomparable. In some notes the nightingale is still a bird; then it rises above its class and seems to suggest to every winged creature what singing is truly like.
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He who possesses science and art, Possesses religion as well; He who possesses neither of these, Had better have religion.
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Tolerance should, strictly speaking, be only a passing mood; it ought to lead to acknowledgment and appreciation. To tolerate a person is to affront him.
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What I possess I would gladly retain. Change amuses the mind, yet scarcely profits.
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Limitation of aims is the mother of wisdom and the secret of achievement.
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The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never have otherwise occurred...unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.
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The Evil One has left, the evil ones remain.
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Yes! to this thought I hold with firm persistence; The last result of wisdom stamps it true; He only earns his freedom and existence Who daily conquers them anew.
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He who cannot love must learn to flatter.
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To be loved for what one is, that is the greatest exception. The great majority love in others only what they lend him; their own selves, their version of him.
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When toward the Devil's Hose we tread, Woman's a thousand steps behind.
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If thou wouldst hear what seemly is and fit, inquire of noble woman; they can tell, who in life's common usage hold their place by graceful deed and aptly chosen word.
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The solution of every problem is another problem.
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A stated truth loses its grace, but a repeated error appears insipid and ridiculous.
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The spirit from which we act is the principal matter.
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Presents at once? That's good. He is sure to succeed.
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Pain and pleasure, good and evil, come to us from unexpected sources. It is not there where we have gathered up our brightest hopes, that the dawn of happiness breaks. It is not there where we have glanced our eye with affright, that we find the deadliest gloom. What should this teach us? To bow to the great and only Source of light, and live humbly and with confiding resignation.