Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
328 quotes
Biography
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on literary, political, Christian views, and philosophical thought in the Western world from the late 18th century to the present.
"Personality is everything in art and poetry."
"It is after all the greatest art to limit and isolate oneself."
"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings."
"In art the best is good enough."
"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."
"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."
"As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live."
"If you've never eaten while crying you don t know what life tastes like."
"Love can do much, but duty more."
"Know thyself? If I knew myself, I'd run away."
"By seeking and blundering we learn."
"Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes."
"I have so much in me, and the feeling for her absorbs it all; I have so much, and without her it all comes to nothing."
"The biggest problem with every art is by the use of appearance to create a loftier reality."
"The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers & cities; but to know someone who thinks & feels with us, & who, though distant, is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden."
"Instruction does much, but encouragement everything."(Letter to A.F. Oeser, Nov. 9, 1768)"
"The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it."
"Age does not make us childish, as some say; it finds us true children."
"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving."
"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."
"Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own."
"At the moment of commitment the entire universe conspires to assist you."
"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."
"If you would create something,you must be something."
"Difficulties increase the nearer we get to the goal."