Quotes by
Wolfgang Goethe |
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832 , German poet & philosopher
German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theater director, critic, and amateur artist, considered the greatest German literary figure of the modern era.His body of work includes epic and lyric poetry; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour; four novels. Also, numerous literary and scientific fragments, more than 10,000 letters, and nearly 3,000 drawings.
His magnus opus was “Faust”, a tragic play in two parts on which he worked for 60 years.
| 55 quotes | 12,550 visits |
Quotations
| • | Nothing is more frightful than to see ignorance in action. 18 |
| • | Everything is hard before it is easy. 18 |
| • | Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do. 15 |
| • | A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart. 13 |
| • | Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. 12 |
| • | Nothing is more damaging to a new truth than an old error. 12 |
| • | If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be. 12 |
| • | At the moment of commitment the entire universe conspires to assist you. 12 |
| • | Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at. 11 |
| • | We are our own devils; we drive ourselves out of our Edens. 10 |
| • | To think is easy. To act is hard. But the hardest thing in the world is to act in accordance with your thinking. 10 |
| • | There is strong shadow where there is much light. 10 |
| • | There are two things children should get from their parents: roots and wings. 10 |
| • | If I love you, what business is it of yours? 10 |
| • | You ask which form of government is the best? Whichever teaches us to govern ourselves. 9 |
| • | We all of us live upon the past, and through the past we are destroyed. 9 |
| • | Remember to live. 9 |
| • | It is ever true that he who does nothing for others, does nothing for himself. 9 |
| • | They should be ashamed of themselves, all these sober people! 8 |
| • | The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation. 8 |
| • | One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words. 8 |
| • | Nothing is worth more than this day. 8 |
| • | Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing. 8 |
| • | He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. 8 |
| • | Blood is a juice of rarest quality. 8 |
| • | As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live. 8 |
| • | All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again. 8 |
| • | You really only know when you know little. Doubt grows with knowledge. 7 |
| • | Truth is contrary to our nature, not so error, and this for a very simple reason; truth demands that we should recognize ourselves as limited, error flatters us that, in one way or another, we are unlimited. 7 |
| • | Music is liquid architecture; Architecture is frozen music. 7 |
| • | Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen. 7 |
| • | Know thyself? If I knew myself I would run away. 7 |
| • | I love those who yearn for the impossible. 7 |
| • | For I have been a man, and that means to have been a fighter. 7 |
| • | Among all peoples, the Greeks have dreamt life's dream most beautifully. 7 |
| • | What is not started today is never finished tomorrow. 6 |
| • | Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least. 6 |
| • | One never goes so far as when one doesn't know where one is going. 6 |
| • | One must be something in order to do something. 6 |
| • | Night is the other half of life, and the better half. 6 |
| • | In limitations he first shows himself the master, and the law can only bring us freedom. 6 |
| • | He who moves not forward, goes backward. 6 |
| • | A talent is formed in stillness, a character in the world's torrent. 6 |
| • | Love does not dominate, it cultivates. And that is more. 5 |
| • | Instruction does much, but encouragement everything. 5 |
| • | If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise. 5 |
| • | Hypotheses are scaffoldings erected in front of a building and then dismantled when the building is finished. They are indispensable for the workman; but you mustn't mistake the scaffolding for the building. 5 |
| • | He who does not speak foreign languages knows nothing about his own. 5 |
| • | A useless life is an early death. 5 |
| • | One of the most striking signs of the decay of art is the intermixing of different genres. 4 |
| • | If you inquire what the people are like here, I must answer, “The same as everywhere!” 4 |
| • | Faust: Who holds the devil, let him hold him well, He hardly will be caught a second time. 4 |
| • | Every author in some way portrays himself in his works, even if it be against his will. 4 |
| • | Divide and rule, a sound motto. Unite and lead, a better one. 4 |
Non-English Quotes
| • | Mehr Licht! More light! (his last words) 10 |
