Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, critic, and amateur artist. His works include: four novels; epic and lyric poetry; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; and treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour. He is considered to be the greatest German literary figure of the modern era. Goethe’s first major scientific work, the Metamorphosis of Plants, was published after he returned from a 1788 tour of Italy.
Some of the best quotes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe are listed below.
- “A clever man commits no minor blunders.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “A creation of importance can only be produced when its author isolates himself, it is a child of solitude.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “A distracted existence leads us to no goal.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “A great revolution is never the fault of the people, but of the government.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “A judge who cannot punish, in the end associates themselves with the criminal.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “A person can stand almost anything except a succession of ordinary days.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “A person hears only what they understand.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “A person is never happy till their vague strivings has itself marked out its proper limitations.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “A person places themselves on a level with the ones they praise.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “A purpose you impart is no longer your own.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “A really great talent finds its happiness in execution.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “All our knowledge is symbolic.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Anecdotes and maxims are rich treasures to the man of the world, for he knows how to introduce the former at fit place in conversation.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “As our inclinations, so our opinions.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “At the moment of commitment, the universe conspires to assist you.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Austere perseverance, hash and continuous… rarely fails of its purpose, for its silent power grows irresistible greater with time.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Be above it! Make the world serve your purpose, but do not serve it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Be generous with kindly words, especially about those who are absent.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Beauty is a manifestation of secret natural laws, which otherwise would have been hidden from us forever.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Beauty is a primeval phenomenon, which itself never makes its appearance, but the reflection of which is visible in a thousand different utterances of the creative mind, and is as various as nature herself.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Beauty is everywhere a welcome guest.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Because everyone uses language to talk, everyone thinks he can talk about language.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Beware of dissipating your powers; strive constantly to concentrate them. Genius thinks it can do whatever it sees others doing, but it is sure to repent every ill-judged outlay.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “By seeking and blundering we learn.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Character develops itself in the stream of life.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Clever people are always the best conversations lexicon.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Common sense is the genius of humanity.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Confronted by outstanding merit, there is no way of saving one’s ego except by love.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Correction does much, but encouragement does more. Encouragement after censure is as the sun after a shower.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Courage and modesty are the most unequivocal of virtues, for they are of a kind that hypocrisy cannot imitate; they too have this quality in common, that they are expressed by the same color.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us something beyond our wishes.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Do not give in too much to feelings. A overly sensitive heart is an unhappy possession on this shaky earth.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Doubt can only be removed by action.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Doubt grows with knowledge.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Each ten years of a man’s life has its own fortunes, its own hopes, its own desires.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Enjoy what thou has inherited from thy sires if thou wouldn’t really possess it. What we employ and use is never an oppressive burden; what the moment brings forth, that only can it profit by.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Enjoy what you can, endure what you must.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Every author in some degree portrays himself in his works, even if it be against his will.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Every offense is avenged on earth.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Every person above the ordinary has a certain mission that they are called to fulfill.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Every second is of infinite value.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Every situation, every moment – is of infinite worth; for it is the representative of a whole eternity.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Every spoken word arouses our self-will.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Everything has been thought of before, but the problem is to think of it again.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Everywhere, we learn only from those whom we love.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Excellence is rarely found, more rarely valued.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Few are open to conviction, but the majority of men are open to persuasion.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “First and last, what is demanded of genius is love of truth.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “For a man to achieve all that is demanded of him he must regard himself as greater than he is.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “For just when ideas fail, a word comes in to save the situation.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Freedom consists not in refusing to recognize anything above us, but in respecting something which is above us; for by respecting it, we raise ourselves to it, and, by our very acknowledgment, prove that we bear within ourselves what is higher, and are worthy to be on a level with it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Fresh activity is the only means of overcoming adversity.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Girls we love for what they are; young men for what they promise to be.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Give me the benefit of your convictions, if you have any; but keep your doubts to yourself, for I have enough of my own.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Giving is the business of the rich.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Great endowments often announce themselves in youth in the form of singularity and awkwardness.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Hatred is active, and envy passive dislike; there is but one step from envy to hate.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Hatred is something peculiar. You will always find it strongest and most violent where there is the lowest degree of culture.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “He is dead in this world who has no belief in another.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “He who does not expect a million readers should not write a line.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “He who enjoys doing and enjoys what he has done is happy.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “He who has a task to perform must know how to take sides, or he is quite unworthy of it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “He who is firm in will molds the world to himself.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “He who moves not forward, goes backward.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “How can we know ourselves? Never by reflection, but only through action. Begin at once to do your duty and immediately you will know what is inside you.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “I can tell you, honest friend, what to believe: believe life; it teaches better than book or orator.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “I do not speak of what I cannot praise.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “I don’t know a greater advantage, than to appreciate the worth of an enemy.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “I have found among my papers a sheet… in which I call architecture frozen music.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “I know nothing more mocking than a devil that despairs.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “I love those who yearn for the impossible.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “I will not be as those who spend the day in complaining of headache, and the night in drinking the wine that gives it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “If a good person does you wrong, act as though you had not noticed it. They will make note of this and not remain in your debt long.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “If any man wishes to write a clear style, let him first be clear in his thoughts.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “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.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “If I love you, what business is it of yours?” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “If the mass of people hesitate to act, strike with swiftly and with boldness, the brave heart that understands and seizes opportunity can everything.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “If you have any faith, give me, for heaven’s sake, a share of it! Your doubts you may keep to yourself, for I have a plenty of my own.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “If you modestly enjoy your fame you are not unworthy to rank with the holy.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “If you must tell me your opinions, tell me what you believe in. I have plenty of doubts of my own.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “If you treat an individual… as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “If you want a wise answer, ask a reasonable question.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “If youth is a fault, it is one which is soon corrected.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Ignorant men raise questions that wise men answered a thousand years ago.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “In all things it is better to hope than to despair.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “In art the best is good enough.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “In comradeship is danger countered best.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “In nature we never see anything isolated, but everything in connection with something else which is before it, beside it, under it and over it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “In the end we retain from our studies only that which we practically apply.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Individuality seems to be Nature’s whole aim – and she cares nothing for individuals.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Instruction does much, but encouragement does everything.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “It is a mistake for a taciturn, serious-minded woman to marry a jovial man, but not for a serious-minded man to marry a lighthearted woman.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “It is delivery that makes the orators success.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where few are willing to search for it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “It is in human nature to relax, when not compelled by personal advantage or disadvantage.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “It is only in misery that we recognize the hand of God leading good men to good.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “It is only necessary to grow old to become more charitable and even indulgent. I see no fault committed by others that I have not committed myself.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “It is said, that no one is a hero to their butler. The reason is, that it requires a hero to recognize a hero. The butler, however, will probably know well how to estimate his equals.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “It is the strange fate of man, that even in the greatest of evils the fear of the worst continues to haunt him.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “It seems to never occur to fools that merit and good fortune are closely united.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “I’ve studied now Philosophy and Jurisprudence, Medicine – and even, alas! Theology – from end to end with labor keen; and here, poor fool with all my lore I stand, no wiser than before.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Life is the childhood of our immortality.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Love and desire are the spirit’s wings to great deeds.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Love can do much, but duty more.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Love does not dominate; it cultivates.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing; a confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “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.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Man’s greatest achievement is astonishment.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Many people take no care of their money till they come nearly to the end of it, and others do just the same with their time.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Master and Doctor are my titles; for ten years now, without repose, I held my erudite recitals and led my pupils by the nose.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Mathematicians are like Frenchmen: whatever you say to them they translate into their own language and forthwith it is something entirely different.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Mediocrity has no greater consolation than in the thought that genius is not immortal.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Men are so constituted that everyone undertakes what he sees another successful in, whether he has aptitude for it or not.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Mountains cannot be surmounted except by winding paths.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “My peace is gone, my heart is heavy.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “My poor head is in such a whirl, my mind is all in bits.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Mysteries are not necessarily miracles.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Napoleon affords us an example of the danger of elevating one’s self to the absolute, and sacrificing everything to the carrying out of an idea.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Nature goes her own way and all that to us seems an exception is really according to order.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Nature has neither kernel nor shell; she is everything at once.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Nature knows no pause in progress and development, and attaches her curse on all inaction.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Nature understands no jesting. She is always true, always serious, always severe. She is always right, and the errors are always those of man.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Never by reflection, but only by doing is self-knowledge possible to one.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “No one as ever completed their apprenticeship.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “No one should be rich except those who understand it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “No one would talk much in society if they knew how often they misunderstood others.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “No prudent antagonist thinks light of his adversaries.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “No two men see the world exactly alike, and different temperaments will apply in different ways a principle that they both acknowledge. The same man will, indeed, often see and judge the same things differently on different occasions: early convictions must give way to more mature ones. Nevertheless, may not the opinions that a man holds and expresses withstand all trials, if he only remains true to himself and others?” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “No wise combatant underestimates their antagonist.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Not the maker of plans and promises, but rather the one who offers faithful service in small matters. This is the person who is most likely to achieve what is good and lasting.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Nothing is more terrible than to see ignorance in action.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Nothing is to be rated higher than the value of the day.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Nothing is true, but that which is simple.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Nothing shows a man’s character more than what he laughs at.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “On the pinnacle of success man does not stand firm long.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “One always has time enough, if one will apply it well.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “One can be instructed in society, one is inspired only in solitude.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “One must ask children and birds how cherries and strawberries taste.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “One never goes further than when they do not know where they are going.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “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.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “One that does not think to highly of himself is more than he thinks.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Only by joy and sorrow does a person know anything about themselves and their destiny. They learn what to do and what to avoid.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Only law can give us freedom.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Only learn to seize good fortune, for good fortune is always here.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Oral delivery aims at persuasion and making the listener believe they are converted. Few persons are capable of being convinced; the majority allow themselves to be persuaded.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Our friends show us what we can do; our enemies teach us what we must do.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Our passion are the true phoenixes; when the old one is burnt out, a new one rises from its ashes.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Passions are vices or virtues to their highest powers.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “People are so constituted that everybody would rather undertake what they see others do, whether they have an aptitude for it or not.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “People have a peculiar pleasure in making converts, that is, in causing others to enjoy what they enjoy, thus finding their own likeness represented and reflected back to them.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “People may live as much retired from the world as they like, but sooner or later they find themselves debtor or creditor to someone.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “People should talk less and draw more. Personally, I would like to renounce speech altogether and, like organic nature, communicate everything I have to say visually.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Personality is everything in art and poetry.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Progress has not followed a straight ascending line, but a spiral with rhythms of progress and retrogression, of evolution and dissolution.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Rejoice that you have still have a long time to live, before the thought comes to you that there is nothing more in the world to see.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Rest not. Life is sweeping by; go and dare before you die. Something mighty and sublime, leave behind to conquer time.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Science has been seriously retarded by the study of what is not worth knowing and of what is not knowable.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Secrecy has many advantages, for when you tell someone the purpose of any object right away, they often think there is nothing to it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Since time is not a person we can overtake when he is gone, let us honor him with mirth and cheerfulness of heart while he is passing.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “So long as you live and work, you will be misunderstood; to that you must resign yourself once and for all. Be silent.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Strike the dog dead, it’s but a critic.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Stupidity is without anxiety.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Talent develops in quiet, character in the torrent of the world.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Talents are best nurtured in solitude, but character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Talk well of the absent whenever you have the opportunity.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Taste is only to be educated by contemplation, not of the tolerably good but of the truly excellent. I therefore show you only the best works; and when you are grounded in these, you will have a standard for the rest, which you will know how to value, without overrating them.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “That is the true season of love; when we believe that we alone can love, that no one could ever have loved as much before, and that no one will ever love in the same way again.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The coward threatens when he is safe.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The credit of advancing science has always been due to individuals and never to the age.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The decline in literature indicates a decline in the nation. The two keep pace in their downward tendency.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The deed is everything, the glory is naught.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The destiny of any nation at any given time depends on the opinion of its young people, those under twenty-five.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The first and last thing required of genius is the love of truth.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The greater the knowledge, the greater the doubt.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The greatest difficulties lie where we are not looking for them.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The greatest genius will never be worth much if he pretends to draw exclusively from his own resources.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The happy do not believe in miracles.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The heights charm us, but the steps do not; with the mountain in our view we love to walk the plains.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The hero draws inspiration from the virtue of his ancestors.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The highest problem of any art is to cause by appearance the illusion of a higher reality.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The history of mankind is his character.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous, the sensible man hardly anything.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The little that is completed, vanishes from the sight of one who looks forward to what is still to do.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The man of understanding finds everything laughable.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The man who is born with a talent which he was meant to use finds his greatest happiness in using it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The mediator of the inexpressible is the work of art.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The older we get the more we must limit ourselves if we wish to be active.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The people rate strength before everything.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The people who are absent are the ideal; those who are present seem to be quite commonplace.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The person of analytic or critical intellect finds something ridiculous in everything. The person of synthetic or constructive intellect, in almost nothing.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The person who in shaky times also wavers only increases the evil, but the person of firm decision fashions the universe.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The persons born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The philosopher must station themselves in the middle.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The phrases that men hear or repeat continually, end by becoming convictions and ossify the organs of intelligence.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The really unhappy person is the one who leaves undone what they can do, and starts doing what they don’t understand; no wonder they come to grief.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The senses do not deceive us, but the judgment does.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The society of women is the element of good manners.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The solution of every problem is another problem.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The soul is indestructible and its activity will continue through eternity.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The unnatural, that too is natural.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The wealth that cannot be administered is a burden.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The Woman-Soul leadeth us upward and on.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Then indecision brings its own delays, and days are lost lamenting o’er lost days. Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute; what you can do, or dream you can, begin it; boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “There are nine requisites for contented living: HEALTH enough to make work a pleasure; WEALTH enough to support your needs; STRENGTH enough to battle with difficulties and forsake them; GRACE enough to confess your sins and overcome them; PATIENCE enough to toil until some good is accomplished; CHARITY enough to see some good in your neighbor; LOVE enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others; FAITH enough to make real the things of God; HOPE enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “There are two things parents should give their children: roots and wings. Roots to give them bearing and a sense of belonging, but also wings to help free them from constraints and prejudices and give them other ways to travel (or rather, to fly).” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From its springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “There is no crime of which I do not deem myself capable.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “There is nothing in the world more shameful than establishing one’s self on lies and fables.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “There is nothing more frightful than imagination without taste.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “There is repetition everywhere, and nothing is found only once in the world.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “They teach in academies far too many things, and far too much that is useless.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “They travel with a constant companion, autumn.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “This is the highest wisdom that I own; freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “This is the true measure of love: When we believe that we alone can love, that no one could ever have loved so before us, and that no one will ever love in the same way after us.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Those are dead even for this life who hope for no other.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Thought expands, but paralyzes; action animates, but narrows.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “To be loved for what one is, is the greatest exception. The great majority love in others only what they lend him, their own selves, their version of him.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “To be pleased with one’s limits is a wretched state.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “To create something you must be something.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “To know someone here or there with whom you can feel there is understanding in spite of distances or thoughts expressed – That can make life a garden.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “To make converts is the natural ambition of everyone.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “To rule is easy, to govern difficult.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “To the person with a firm purpose all men and things are servants.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “To understand one thing well is better than understanding many things by halves.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Traveling is like gambling: it is always connected with winning and losing, and generally where it is least expected we receive, more or less than what we hoped for.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Trust yourself, then you will know how to live.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Unlike grown ups, children have little need to deceive themselves.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “We always have time enough, if we will but use it aright.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “We are so constituted that we believe the most incredible things; and, once they are engraved upon the memory, woe to him who would endeavor to erase them.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “We can always redeem the man who aspires and strives.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “We can offer up much in the large, but to make sacrifices in little things is what we are seldom equal to.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “We eagerly get hold of a law that serves as a weapon to our passions.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “We must not take the faults of our youth with us into old age, for age brings along its own defects.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “We need a constitution, we need rules, but we don’t need a wall.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “We will burn that bridge when we come to it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Wealth lost is something lost, honor lost is something lost: Courage lost all is lost.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “What by a straight path cannot be reached by crooked ways is never won.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “What is hardest of all? That which seems most simple: to see with your eyes what is before your eyes.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “What is my life if I am no longer useful to others?” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “What is not fully understood is not possessed.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “What is uttered from the heart alone, Will win the hearts of others to your own.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “What life half gives a man, posterity gives entirely.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “What makes people happy is activity; changing evil itself into good by power, working in a God like manner.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Whatever liberates our spirit without giving us self-control is disastrous.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Whatever you cannot understand, you cannot possess.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “When a wife has a good husband it is easily seen in her face.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “When all is said the greatest action is to limit and isolate one’s self.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “When ideas fail, words come in very handy.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “When we treat man as he is, we make him worse than he is; when we treat him as if he already were what he potentially could be, we make him what he should be.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “When you praise someone you call yourself his equal.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Whenever I hear people talking about liberal ideas, I am always astounded that men should love to fool themselves with empty sounds. An idea should never be liberal; it must be vigorous, positive, and without loose ends so that it may fulfill its divine mission and be productive. The proper place for liberality is in the realm of the emotions.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Where is the man who has the strength to be true, and to show himself as he is?” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Whether a person shows themselves to be a genius in science or in writing a song, the only point is, whether the thought, the discovery, or the deed, is living and can live on.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “While man’s desires and aspirations stir he cannot choose but err.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Who is sure of their own motives can in confidence advance or retreat.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Who is the most sensible person? The one who finds what is to their own advantage in all that happens to them.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Who is the wisest man? He who neither knows or wishes for anything else than what happens.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Who never ate his bread in sorrow, who never sat the sorrowful nights weeping on his bed, he knows you not, you heavenly Powers.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Whoever wishes to keep a secret must hide the fact that he possesses one.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Wisdom is found only in truth.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Without haste, but without rest.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Wood burns because it has the proper stuff in it; and a man becomes famous because he has the proper stuff in him.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Yes! To this thought I hold with firm persistence; The last result of wisdom stamps it true; He only earns his freedom and existence Who daily conquers them anew.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “You accuse a woman of wavering affections, but don’t blame her; she is just looking for a consistent man.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
