Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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If any man wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul.
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I was oppressed with the sensations I then felt; I sunk under the weight of them.
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What is now the foliage moving? Air is still, and hush'd the breeze, Sultriness, this fullness loving, Through the thicket, from the trees. Now the eye at once gleams brightly, See! the infant band with mirth Moves and dances nimbly, lightly, As the morning gave it birth, Flutt'ring two and two o'er earth.
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Die Welt ist eine Glocke, die einen Riß hat: sie klappert, aber klingt nicht.
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It is a great error to take oneself for more than one is, or for less than one is worth.
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True happiness springs from moderation.
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Everything that we call Invention or Discovery in the higher sense of the word is the serious exercise and activity of an original feeling for truth, which, after a long course of silent cultivation, suddenly flashes out into fruitful knowledge.
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We rather confess our moral errors, faults, and crimes than our ignorance.
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Nothing will change the fact that I cannot produce the least thing without absolute solitude.
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Man knows himself only insofar as he knows the world, becoming aware of it if only within himself, and of himself self only within it. Each new subject, well observed, opens up within us a new organ of thought.
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Tolerance comes of age. I see no fault committed that I myself could not have committed at some time or other.
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It is better for you to suffer an injustice than for the world to be without law. Therefore, let everyone submit to the law.
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While man's desires and aspirations stir he cannot choose but err.
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A lot of people do not care about your money until nearly penniless. They also do so with time.
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Whoso is content with pure experience and acts upon it has enough of truth.
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The artist has a twofold relation to nature; he is at once her master and her slave.
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Lay hold of life with both hands, whenever thou mayest seize it, it is interesting.
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Love, whose power youth feels, is not suitable for the elderly, just as little as anything that presupposes productivity. It is rare that productivity lasts through the years.
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Everything we do has a result. But that which is right and prudent does not always lead to good, nor the contrary to what is bad.
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If each one does their duty as an individual and if each one works in their own proper vocation, it will be right with the whole.
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Nothing tells more about the character of a man than the things he makes fun of.
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The destiny of any nation at any given time depends on the opinion of its young people, those under twenty-five.
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At the end of life thoughts hitherto impossible come to the collected mind, like good spirits which let themselves down from the shining heights of the past.
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An absent friend gives us friendly company when we are well assured of his happiness.