Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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As man is, so is his God. And thus is God oft strangely odd.
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He is dead in this world who has no belief in another.
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One can be instructed in society, one is inspired only in solitude.
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A plant is like a self-willed man, out of whom we can obtain all which we desire, if we will only treat him his own way.
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I will say with Lorenzo de Medici that those who do not hope for another life are always dead to this one.
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So long as you live and work, you will be misunderstood; to that you must resign yourself once and for all. Be silent!
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Men's prejudices rest upon their character for the time being and cannot be overcome, as being part and parcel of themselves. Neither evidence nor common sense nor reason has the slightest influence upon them.
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I have often reaped what others have sowed. My work is the work of a collective being that bears the name Goethe.
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One cannot develop taste from what is of average quality but only from the very best.
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If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words.
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Who is sure of their own motives can in confidence advance or retreat.
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Continue to make the demands of the day your immediate concern, and take occasion to test the purity of your hearts and the steadfastness of your spirits. When you then take a deep breath and rise above the cares of this world and in an hour of leisure, you will surely win the proper frame of mind to face devoutly what is above us, with reverence, seeing in all events the manifestation of a higher guidance.
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Talent develops in quiet, alone; character is sharpened in the torrent of the world.
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Nature is, after all, the only book that offers important content on every page.
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Children can scarcely be fashioned to meet with our likes and our purpose. Just as God did us give them, so must we hold them and love them, nurture and teach them to fullness and leave them to be what they are.
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Be generous with kindly words, especially about those who are absent.
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That is the way of youth and life in general: that we do not understand the strategy until after the campaign is over.
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When two people are really happy about one another one can generally assume they are mistaken.
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All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.
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Oh God, how do the world and heavens confine themselves, when our hearts tremble in their own barriers!
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One that does not think to highly of himself is more than he thinks.
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In art, the best is good enough.
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To live in a great idea means to treat the impossible as though it were possible. It is just the same with a strong character; and when an idea and a character meet, things arise which fill the world with wonder for thousands of years.
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When intelligent and sensible people despise knowledge in their old age, it is only because they have asked too much of it and of themselves.