Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
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The man who masters himself is delivered from the force that binds all creatures.
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There is no outward sign of true courtesy that does not rest on a deep moral foundation.
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Ah, how often I've cursed those foolish pages,That showed my youthful sufferings to everyone!If Werther had been my brother, and I'd killed him,His sad ghost could hardly have persecuted me more.
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That which is eternal in Woman lifts us above.
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Do not, I beg you, look for anything behind phenomena. They are themselves their own lesson.
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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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Hypotheses are only the pieces of scaffolding which are erected round a building during the course of construction, and which are taken away as soon as the edifice is completed.
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Man darf nur alt werden, um milder zu sein; ich sehe keinen Fehler begehen, den ich nicht auch begangen hätte.
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Our passions are the true phoenixes; when the old one is burnt out, a new one rises from its ashes.
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Do not hurry; do not rest.
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A distracted existence leads us to no goal.
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Let us live in as small a circle as we will, we are either debtors or creditors before we have had time to look round.
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Everything that we encounter leaves traces behind. Everything contributes imperceptibly to our education.
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Getting along with women, Knocking around with men, Having more credit than money, Thus one goes through the world.
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Let the noble man Be generous and good, Tirelessly achieving What is just and useful: Let him be a model For those beings whom he surmises.
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Yes, my love, who soever lives, loses, . . . but he also wins.
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There is nothing new on earth For a person who lives long and experiences much. In my years of youthful wandering I have seen crystallized people.
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Neuere Poeten tun viel Wasser in die Tinte.
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Publishers are all cohorts of the devil; there must be a special hell for them somewhere.
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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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A genuine work of art usually displeases at first sight, as it suggests a deficiency in the spectator.
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People will allow their faults to be shown them; they will let themselves be punished for them; they will patiently endure many things because of them; they only become impatient when they have to lay them aside.
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Man... knows only when he is satisfied and when he suffers, and only his sufferings and his satisfactions instruct him concerning himself, teach him what to seek and what to avoid. For the rest, man is a confused creature; he knows not whence he comes or whither he goes, he knows little of the world, and above all, he knows little of himself.
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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?