Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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In limitations he first shows himself the master,And the law can only bring us freedom.
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Publishers are all cohorts of the devil; there must be a special hell for them somewhere.
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Those who make use of devotion as a means and end generally are hypocrites.
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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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Once a man's thirty, he's already old,He is indeed as good as dead.It's best to kill him right away.
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We who didn't inherit political power nor are made to acquire riches like nothing better than that which expands and solidifies the power of the spirit.
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Wo viel Licht ist, ist starker Schatten.
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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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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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A violet on the meadow grew, That no one saw, that no one knew, It was a modest flower. A shepherdess pass'd by that way. Light footed, pretty and so gay; That way she came, Softly warbling forth her lay.
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Every need whose true satisfaction is denied leads by necessity to faith.
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Ich bedauere die Menschen, welche von der Vergänglichkeit der Dinge viel Wesens machen und sich in Betrachtung irdischer Nichtigkeit verlieren. Sind wir ja eben deßhalb da, um das Vergängliche unvergänglich zu machen; das kann ja nur dadurch geschehen, wenn man beides zu schätzen weiß.
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I do not know myself, and God forbid that I should.
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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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The close and thoughtful observer more and more learns to recognize his limitations. He realizes that with the steady growth of knowledge more and more new problems keep on emerging.
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Keep not standing fixed and rooted. Briskly venture, briskly roam.
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Life is too short to drink bad wine.
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Sceptics are yet the most credulous.
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Nature! We live in her midst and know her not. She is incessantly speaking to us, but betrays not her secret. We constantly act upon her, and yet have no power over her. Variant: NATURE! We are surrounded and embraced by her: powerless to separate ourselves from her, and powerless to penetrate beyond her.
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The true, prescriptive artist strives after artistic truth; the lawless artist, following blind instinct, after an appearance of naturalness. The one leads to the highest peaks of art, the other to its lowest depths.
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Association with women is the basis of good manners.
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Law is mighty, mightier necessity.
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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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The greatest genius will not be worth much if he pretends to draw exclusively from his own resources.