270 Quotes by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a literary giant of the Romantic era, left an indelible mark on the world of literature and thought. His works, including "Faust," "The Sorrows of Young Werther," and "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship," explored the complexities of human emotion, desire, and the pursuit of meaning. Goethe's multidisciplinary interests spanned literature, philosophy, science, and art, reflecting an insatiable curiosity about the human experience and the natural world. His contributions extended beyond his writing, as he also made significant advancements in botanical studies and influenced educational reform. Goethe's life and writings remind us that profound insight can arise from a deeply contemplative engagement with life, and his impact on literature and culture endures as a testament to the enduring power of artistic expression.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
Courage is the commitment to begin without any guarantee of success. (Meaning)
A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart. (Meaning)
You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him. (Meaning)
Everything is hard before it is easy. (Meaning)
Ignorant men raise questions that wise men answered a thousand years ago. (Meaning)
Everything is hard before it is easy. (Meaning)
Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image. (Meaning)
Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at. (Meaning)
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action. (Meaning)
Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen. (Meaning)
The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone. (Meaning)
Correction does much, but encouragement does more. (Meaning)
A person hears only what they understand. (Meaning)
There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity. (Meaning)
What is important in life is life, and not the result of life. (Meaning)
A man who cannot command himself will always be a slave. (Meaning)
He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. (Meaning)
Enjoy what you can, endure what you must. (Meaning)
Whoever wishes to keep a secret must hide the fact that he possesses one. (Meaning)
We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise, we harden. (Meaning)
What is not started today is never finished tomorrow. (Meaning)
Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least. (Meaning)
Tell me with whom you associate, and I will tell you who you are. (Meaning)
The best slave is the one who thinks he is free. (Meaning)
The hardest thing to see is what is in front of your eyes. (Meaning)
Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean. (Meaning)
Life is the childhood of our immortality. (Meaning)
Few people have the imagination for reality. (Meaning)
If you want to make life easy, make it hard. (Meaning)
The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation. (Meaning)
Beware of a man of one book. (Meaning)
As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live. (Meaning)
Wisdom is found only in truth. (Meaning)
A great revolution is never the fault of the people, but of the government. (Meaning)
A joy shared is a joy doubled. (Meaning)
Every second is of infinite value. (Meaning)
I am not omniscient, but I know a lot. (Meaning)
Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must. (Meaning)
Nothing is more terrible than to see ignorance in action. (Meaning)
We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves. (Meaning)
Choose well. Your choice is brief, and yet endless. (Meaning)
I love those who yearn for the impossible. (Meaning)
Nothing is worth more than this day. (Meaning)
The ideal of beauty is simplicity and tranquility. (Meaning)
We are shaped and fashioned by what we love (Meaning)
Willing is not enough, we must do. (Meaning)
The important thing in life is to have a great aim, and the determination to attain it. (Meaning)
By seeking and blundering we learn. (Meaning)
The coward only threatens when he is safe. (Meaning)
Precaution is better than cure. (Meaning)
There are two things children should get from their parents: roots and wings. (Meaning)
To measure up to all that is demanded of him, a man must overestimate his capacities (Meaning)
Certain defects are necessary for the existence of individuality. (Meaning)
Do the duty which lies nearest to thee. (Meaning)
Doubt grows with knowledge. (Meaning)
Only law can give us freedom. (Meaning)
He who cannot draw on three thousand years is living from hand to mouth. (Meaning)
The right man is the one who seizes the moment. (Meaning)
If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words. (Meaning)
It is in self-limitation that a master first shows himself. (Meaning)
One always has time enough, if one will apply it well. (Meaning)
The threshold is the place of expectation. (Meaning)
The man with insight enough to admit his limitations comes nearest to perfection. (Meaning)
Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes. (Meaning)
Plunge boldly into the thick of life, and seize it where you will, it is always interesting. (Meaning)
Doubt can only be removed by action. (Meaning)
Common sense is the genius of humanity. (Meaning)
To rule is easy, to govern difficult. (Meaning)
One man's word is no man's word; we should quietly hear both sides. (Meaning)
Everyone only hears what he understands. (Meaning)
A really great talent finds its happiness in execution. (Meaning)
Divide and rule, the politician cries; unite and lead, is watchword of the wise. (Meaning)
There is strong shadow where there is much light. (Meaning)
Wisdom is only found in truth. (Meaning)
Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing. (Meaning)
Action has magic, grace and power in it. (Meaning)
Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking. (Meaning)
Live dangerously and you live right. (Meaning)
One cannot always be a hero, but one can always be a man. (Meaning)
There is nothing so terrible as activity without insight. (Meaning)
He who moves not forward, goes backward. (Meaning)
He only earns his freedom and his life Who takes them every day by storm. (Meaning)
Sameness leaves us in peace but it is contradiction that makes us productive. (Meaning)
Beauty is everywhere a welcome guest. (Meaning)
Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing (Meaning)
Patriotism ruins history. (Meaning)
All beginnings are delightful; the threshold is the place to pause. (Meaning)
If you want to reach the infinite, then explore every aspect of the finite. (Meaning)
Where the light is brightest, the shadows are deepest. (Meaning)
Do not hurry; do not rest. (Meaning)
If I love you, what business is it of yours? (Meaning)
All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green. (Meaning)
Before you can do something, you must first be something. (Meaning)
A man's manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait. (Meaning)
Collectors are happy people. (Meaning)
if only these treasures were not so fragile as they are precious and beautiful. (Meaning)
A clever man commits no minor blunders. (Meaning)
Character develops itself in the stream of life. (Meaning)
Love and desire are the spirit's wings to great deeds. (Meaning)
What I possess, seems far away to me, and what is gone becomes reality. (Meaning)
A useless life is an early death. (Meaning)
Plunge boldly into the thick of life! (Meaning)
One mind is enough for a thousand hands. (Meaning)
When ideas fail, words come in very handy. (Meaning)
I call architecture frozen music. (Meaning)
Two souls dwell, alas! in my breast. (Meaning)
On top of the world, or in the depths of despair. (Meaning)
Instruction does much, but encouragement everything. (Meaning)
The unnatural, that too is natural. (Meaning)
He who knows no foreign languages knows nothing of his own. (Meaning)
Colors are the deeds/ and sufferings of light. (Meaning)
Man errs as long as he strives. (Meaning)
In the end we retain from our studies only that which we practically apply. (Meaning)
Superstition is the poetry of life. (Meaning)
Everything transitory is but an image. (Meaning)
Blood is a very special juice. (Meaning)
Classicism is health, romanticisim is sickness. (Meaning)
Art is a mediator of the unspeakable. (Meaning)
The deed is everything, the glory is naught. (Meaning)
I am the Spirit that denies. (Meaning)
You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.
We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.
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.
The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. Whatever you think you can do, or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, power and grace.
Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen.
The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never have otherwise occurred...unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.
At the moment of commitment the entire universe conspires to assist you.
I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather....In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or is dehumanized.
Courage is the commitment to begin without any guarantee of success.
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.
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.
There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity.
A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.
Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
Hell begins the day that God grants you the vision to see all that you could have done, should have done, and would have done, but did not do.
Correction does much, but encouragement does more.
Everything is hard before it is easy.
Nothing is worth more than this day. You cannot relive yesterday. Tomorrow is still beyond your reach.
He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.
Our friends show us what we can do; our enemies teach us what we must do.
Why look for conspiracy when stupidity can explain so much
The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.
Someday perhaps the inner light will shine forth from us, and the we'll need no other light.
If you want someone to develop a specific trait, treat them as though they already had it.
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.
Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image.
Too many parents make life hard for their children by trying, too zealously, to make it easy for them.
A person hears only what they understand.
Each indecision brings its own delays and days are lost lamenting over lost days... What you can do or think you can do, begin it. For boldness has magic, power, and genius in it.
Nine requisites for contented living: Health enough to make work a pleasure. Wealth enough to support your needs. Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them. Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake 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.
People who think honestly and deeply have a hostile attitude towards the public.
The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become.
What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.
To think is easy. To act is hard. But the hardest thing in the world is to act in accordance with your thinking.
The best slave is the one who thinks he is free.
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).
The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone.
We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise, we harden.
I am not omniscient, but I know a lot.
Look at a man the way he is and he only becomes worse, but look at him as if he were what he could be, then he becomes what he should be.
A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.
One is never deceived; one deceives oneself.
The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving.
Wisdom is found only in truth.
The ideal of beauty is simplicity and tranquility.
To think is easy. To act is difficult. To act as one thinks is the most difficult.
Progress has not followed a straight ascending line, but a spiral with rhythms of progress and retrogression, of evolution and dissolution.
Few people have the imagination for reality.
Oblivion is full of people who allow the opinions of others to overrule their belief in themselves.
Sin writes histories, goodness is silent.
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.
Tell me with whom you associate, and I will tell you who you are.
Very few people love others for what they are; rather, they love what they lend them, their own selves, their own idea of them.
Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.
Belief is not the beginning of knowledge - it is the end.
What is hardest of all? That which seems most simple: to see with your eyes what is before your eyes.
Rest not. Life is sweeping by; go and dare before you die. Something mighty and sublime, leave behind to conquer time.
Life is too short to drink bad wine.
Know thyself? If I knew myself I would run away.
Mankind? That is an abstraction. There have always been and always will be only individuals.
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.
Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.
None are so hopelessly enslaved, as those who falsely believe they are free. The truth has been kept from the depth of their minds by masters who rule them with lies. They feed them on falsehoods till wrong looks like right in their eyes.
How can you come to know yourself? Never by thinking, always by doing. Try to do your duty, and you'll know right away what you amount to.
I love those who yearn for the impossible.
Divide and rule, a sound motto. Unite and lead, a better one.
Our destiny often looks like a fruit-tree in winter. Who would think from its pitiable aspect that those rigid boughs, those rough twigs could next spring again be green, bloom, and even bear fruit? Yet we hope it, we know it.
The solution of every problem is another problem
To the world you might be one person, but to one person, you might be the world. Kindness is the golden chain by which our world is bound together.
The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers and cities; but to know someone who thinks and feels with us, and who, though distant, is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.
Mountains cannot be surmounted except by winding paths.
Talent develops in quiet, alone; character is sharpened in the torrent of the world.
A man who cannot command himself will always be a slave.
The best government is that which teaches us to govern ourselves.
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.
The flowers are full of honey, but only the bee finds out the sweetness.
What is uttered from the heart alone, Will win the hearts of others to your own.
A great artist... must be shaken by the naked truths that will not be comforted. This divine discontent, this disequilibrium, this state of inner tension is the source of artistic energy.
If a good person does you wrong, act as though you had not noticed it. If we practice and eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, soon the wholeworld will be blind and toothless.
Ignorant men raise questions that wise men answered a thousand years ago.
Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.
What is important in life is life, and not the result of life.
The human race is a monotonous affair. Most people spend the greatest part of their time working in order to live, and what little freedom remains so fills them with fear that they seek out any and every means to be rid of it.
Difficulties increase the nearer we get to the goal.
When a wife has a good husband, it is easily seen on her face.
Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at.
Be always resolute with the present hour. Every moment is of infinite value.
It is sometimes essential for a husband and a wife to quarrel - they get to know each other better.
Whatever you can do or dream, begin it.
He is the happiest man who can see the connection between the end and the beginning of life.
If nature is your teacher, your soul will awaken.
Music is liquid architecture; Architecture is frozen music.
All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.
There is nothing in the world more shameful than establishing one's self on lies and fables.
The main thing is to have a soul that loves the truth and harbours it where he finds it. And another thing: truth requires constant repetition, because error is being preached about us all the time, and not only by isolated individuals but by the masses. In the newspapers and encyclopedias, in schools and universities, everywhere error rides high and basks in the consciousness of having the majority on its side.
I can promise to be sincere, but I cannot promise to be impartial.
The greater the knowledge, the greater the doubt.
Our senses don't deceive us: our judgment does
Night is the other half of life, and the better half.
Words are good, but there is something better. The best cannot be explained by words. The spirit in which we act is the chief matter. Action can only be only understood and represented by the spirit.
The intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous, the sensible man hardly anything.
Life is the childhood of our immortality.
Beware of a man of one book.
Misunderstandings and neglect occasion more mischief in the world than malice and wickedness.
Do not give in too much to feelings. A overly sensitive heart is an unhappy possession on this shaky earth.
Painting and tattooing the body is a return to animalism.
If you want a wise answer, ask a reasonable question.
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.
Enjoy what you can, endure what you must.
Not all that is presented to us as history has really happened; and what really happened did not actually happen the way it is presented to us; moreover, what really happened is only a small part of all that happened. Everything in history remains uncertain, the largest events as well as the smallest occurrence.
Everything is simpler than you think and at the same time more complex than you imagine
We can really respect a man only if he doesn't always look out for himself.
No doubt you are right... there would be far less suffering amongst mankind if men... did not employ their imaginations so assiduously in recalling the memory of past sorrow, instead of bearing their present lot with equanimity.
The hardest thing to see is what is in front of your eyes.
If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.
No one would talk much in society if they knew how often they misunderstood others.
The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation.
Kindness is the golden thread that holds society together.
We see only what we know.
Humans fear reason, but they ought to fear stupidity- for reason can be hard, but stupidity can be fatal.
The hero draws inspiration from the virtue of his ancestors.
A noble person attracts noble people, and knows how to hold on to them.
A wife is a gift bestowed upon a man to reconcile him to the loss of paradise.
You accuse a woman of wavering affections, but don't blame her; she is just looking for a consistent man.
If you've never eaten while crying you don t know what life tastes like.
The soul is indestructible and its activity will continue through eternity. It is like the sun, which, to our eyes, seems to set at night; but it has in reality only gone to diffuse its light elsewhere.
If you want to make life easy, make it hard.
Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing; a confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished.
It is not doing the thing we like to do, but liking the thing we have to do, that makes life blessed.
Doesn't surprise me that Christ our Lord preferred to live with whores and sinners, seeing I go in for that myself.
The highest happiness of man ... is to have probed what is knowable and quietly to revere what is unknowable.
Nothing is more odious than the majority, for it consists of a few powerful leaders, a certain number of accommodating scoundrels and submissive weaklings, and a mass of men who trot after them without thinking, or knowing their own minds.
Of all thieves, fools are the worst; they rob you of time and temper.
Daily life is more instructive than the most effective book.
I think that I am better than the people who are trying to reform me.
Fortunately, we can take in only so much misfortune; what exceeds that limit either destroys us or leaves us indifferent.
Riches amassed in haste will diminish; but those collected by hand and little by little will multiply.
Beware of dissipating your powers; strive constantly to concentrate them.
Man supposes that he directs his life and governs his actions, when his existence is irretrievably under the control of destiny
Man's highest merit always is, as much as possible, to rule external circumstances and as little as possible to let himself be ruled by them.
Truth has to be repeated constantly, because Error also is being preached all the time, and not just by a few, but by the multitude. In the Press and Encyclopaedias, in Schools and Universities, everywhere Error holds sway, feeling happy and comfortable in the knowledge of having Majority on its side.
Tolerance should really be only a temporary attitude; it must lead to recognition. To tolerate means to offend.
To the person with a firm purpose all men and things are servants.
Opponents fancy they refute us when they repeat their own opinion and pay no attention to ours.
Just begin and the mind grows heated; continue, and the task will be completed!
If you live criticizing people, you won't have time to love them.
The misery that oppresses you lies not in your profession but in yourself! What man in the world would not find his situation intolerable if he chooses a craft, an art, indeed any form of life, without experiencing an inner calling? Whoever is born with a talent, or to a talent, must surely find in that the most pleasing of occupations! Everything on this earth has its difficult sides! Only some inner drive - pleasure, love - can help us overcome obstacles, prepare a path, and lift as out of the narrow circle in which others tread out their anguished, miserable existences!
An absent friend gives us friendly company when we are well assured of his happiness.
Fools and wise men are equally harmless. It is the half-fools and half-wise that are dangerous.
Distrust those in whom the desire to punish is strong.
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
