Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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Could we perfect human nature, we might also expect a perfect state of things.
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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 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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Neither a work of nature nor one of art we get to know when they have been finished; we must surprise them in the process of beingcreated so as to understand them to some degree.
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To be sure, a good work of art can and will have moral consequences, but to demand of the artists moral intentions, means ruiningtheir craft.
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Only the soul that loves is happy.
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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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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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There is nothing insignificant in the world. It all depends on how one looks at it.
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What is the universal? The single case. What is the particular? Millions of cases.
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As long as you don't practice it, this dying and becoming, You are only a dreary guest on this dark earth.
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If ever the Divine appeared on earth, it was in the person of Christ.
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And we went our separate ways without having understood each other. As in this world nobody understands the other easily.
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Unrest and uncertainty are our lot.
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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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Energy will do anything that can be done in this world.
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Men are so inclined to content themselves with what is commonest; the spirit and the senses so easily grow dead to the impressions of the beautiful and perfect, that every one should study, by all methods, to nourish in his mind the faculty of feeling these things. ...For this reason, one ought every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.
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One doesn't always lose when one has to do without.
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Beauty is everywhere a welcome guest.
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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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When the healthy nature of man acts as a whole, when he feels himself to be in the world as in a great, beautiful, noble, and valued whole, when harmonious ease affords him a pure and free delight, then the universe, if it could experience itself, would exult, as having attained its goal, and admire the climax of its own becoming and essence.
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There is strong shadow where there is much light.
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Those who have no hope for a future life are already dead for the present one.