Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes

Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words.

Know thyself? If I knew myself I would run away.

Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at.

A person hears only what they understand.

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.

Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.

At the moment of commitment the entire universe conspires to assist you.

Nothing is so atrocious as fancy without taste.

Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must.

We are shaped and fashioned by what we love

All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.

Age does not make us childish, as some say; it finds us true children.

The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone.

Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own.

Divide and rule, a sound motto. Unite and lead, a better one.

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.

If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however, if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that.

Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing; a confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished.

Nothing is more disgusting than the majority: because it consists of a few powerful predecessors, of rogues who adapt themselves, of weak who assimilate themselves, and the masses who imitate without knowing at all what they want.

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

Few people have the imagination for reality.

Who is the happiest man? He who is alive to the merit of others, and can rejoice in their enjoyment as if it were his own.

One can stand anything except a succession of ordinary days

There is no past we can bring back by longing for it. There is only an eternal now that builds and creates out of the past something new and better.

Be above it! Make the world serve your purpose, but do not serve it.

Every situation—nay, every moment—is of infinite worth; for it is the representative of a whole eternity.

It is not doing the thing we like to do, but liking the thing we have to do, that makes life blessed.

The heights charm us, but the steps do not; with the mountain in our view we love to walk the plains.

Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.

For a man to achieve all that is demanded of him he must regard himself as greater than he is.

Certain flaws are necessary for the whole. It would seem strange if old friends lacked certain quirks.

Difficulties increase the nearer we get to the goal.

A man's manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait.

He who moves not forward, goes backward.

Rest not. Life is sweeping by; go and dare before you die. Something mighty and sublime, leave behind to conquer time.

He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.

We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.

Love does not dominate; it cultivates.

What is uttered from the heart alone, Will win the hearts of others to your own.

To be loved for what one is, that is the greatest exception. The great majority love in others only what they lend him; their own selves, their version of him.

Doubt can only be removed by action.

We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.

Correction does much, but encouragement does more.

The intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous, the sensible man hardly anything.

Everybody wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow.

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.

The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become.

To be pleased with one's limits is a wretched state.

Do not give in too much to feelings. A overly sensitive heart is an unhappy possession on this shaky earth.

The deed is everything, the glory is naught

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).

Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image.

Man is not born to solve the problem of the universe, but to find out what he has to do; and to restrain himself within the limits of his comprehension.

Beware of her fair hair, for she excelsAll women in the magic of her locks; And when she winds them round a young man's neck, She will not ever set him free again.

If any man wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul.

A creation of importance can only be produced when its author isolates himself, it is a child of solitude.

A really great talent finds its happiness in execution.

What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.

Whatever you can do or dream, begin it.

Mathematicians are like Frenchmen: whatever you say to them they translate into their own language and forthwith it is something entirely different.

Nothing is more fearful than imagination without taste.

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.

If we examine every stage of our lives, we find that from our first breath to our last we are under the constraint of circumstances. And yet we still possess the greatest of all freedoms, the power of developing our innermost selves in harmony with the moral order of the universe, and so winning peace of heart whatever obstacles we meet.

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.

What is important in life is life, and not the result of life.

The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation.

Hatred is active, and envy passive dislike; there is but one step from envy to hate.

Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life.

Just trust yourself and you'll learn the art of living.

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.

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.

When ideas fail, words come in very handy.

Where the light is brightest, the shadows are deepest.

Love grants in a moment what toil can hardly acheive in an age.

Nothing is worth more than this day. You cannot relive yesterday. Tomorrow is still beyond your reach.

A useless life is an early death.

Kindness is the golden thread that holds society together.

If children grew up according to early indications, we should have nothing but geniuses.

Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking.

Then indecision brings its own delays, And days are lost lamenting over lost days. Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute; What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it; Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

A noble person attracts noble people, and knows how to hold on to them.

Nothing hurts a new truth more than an old errors

The society of women is the element of good manners.

Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.

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.

Mountains cannot be surmounted except by winding paths.

Be generous with kindly words, especially about those who are absent.

Who is sure of their own motives can in confidence advance or retreat.

No one would talk much in society if they knew how often they misunderstood others.

Someday perhaps the inner light will shine forth from us, and the we'll need no other light.

Nature goes on her way, and all that to us seems an exception is really according to order.

He who does not see the whole world in his friends, does not deserve that the world should hear of him.

Confronted by outstanding merit, there is no way of saving one's ego except by love

Don't say that you want to give, but go ahead and give! You'll never catch up with a mere hope.

He who is firm and resolute in will molds the world to himself.

In the end we retain from our studies only that which we practically apply.

A man does not mind being blamed for his faults, and being punished for them, and he patiently suffers much for them; but he becomes impatient if he is required to give them up.

When a wife has a good husband, it is easily seen on her face.

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.

Fresh activity is the only means of overcoming adversity.

Everything in the world may be endured except continual prosperity.

Love and desire are the spirit's wings to great deeds.

Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.

A collection of anecdotes and maxims is the greatest of treasures for the man of the world, for he knows how to intersperse conversation with the former in fit places, and to recollect the latter on proper occasions

All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, until they take root in our personal experience.

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.

Whoever wishes to keep a secret must hide the fact that he possesses one.

Correction does much, but encouragement does more. Encouragement after censure is as the sun after a shower.

If you start to think of your physical and moral condition, you usually find that you are sick.

The best government is that which teaches us to govern ourselves.

The artist alone sees spirits. But after he has told of their appearing to him, everybody sees them.

Everything great and intelligent is in the minority