Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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Mountains cannot be surmounted except by winding paths.
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These auspicious aspects, which the astrologers subsequently interpreted for me, may have been the causes of my preservation.
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Happy the man who early learns the wide chasm that lies between his wishes and his powers.
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All lyrical work must, as a whole, be perfectly intelligible, but in some particulars a little unintelligible.
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Yes, my love, who soever lives, loses, . . . but he also wins.
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The most congenial social occasions are those ruled by cheerful deference of each for all.
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How to please the public - that's the test, But nowadays I find I'm in a fix; I know they're not accustomed to the best, But they've all read so much they know the tricks. How can we give then something fresh and new That's serious, but entertaining too?
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Master and Doctor are my titles; for ten years now, without repose, I held my erudite recitals and led my pupils by the nose.
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The art of governing is a great metier, requiring the whole man, and it is therefore not well for a ruler to have too strong tendencies for other affairs.
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The greatest genius will not be worth much if he pretends to draw exclusively from his own resources.
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Tell me you stones, O speak, you towering palaces!Streets, say a word! Spirit of this place, are you dumb?All things are alive in your sacred wallsEternal Rome, it's only for me all is still.
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One must be something to be able to do something.
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Fools and wise men are equally harmless. It is the half-fools and half-wise that are dangerous.
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Wenn mancher sich nicht verpflichtet fühlte, das Unwahre zu wiederholen, weil er’s einmal gefügt hat, fo wären es ganz andere Leute geworden.
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Der umgang mit frauen ist das element guter sitten.
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The effects of good music are not just because it's new; on the contrary music strikes us more the more familiar we are with it.
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Wo viel Licht ist, ist starker Schatten.
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I do not know myself, and God forbid that I should.
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Yet through delivery orators succeed, I feel that I am far behind indeed.
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Necessity is cruel, but it is the only test of inward strength. Every fool may live according to his own likings.
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Life is too short to drink bad wine.
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Und doch sehr oft, wenn wir uns von dem Beabsichtigten für ewig getrennt sehen, haben wir schon auf unserm Wege irgend ein anderes Wünschenswerthe gefunden, etwas uns Gemäßes, mit dem uns zu begnügen wir eigentlich geboren sind.
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Man supposes that he directs his life and governs his actions, when his existence is irretrievably under the control of destiny.
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Meine Ruh' ist hin,Mein Herz ist schwer.