Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes

A clever man commits no minor blunders.

A correct answer is like an affectionate kiss.

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

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

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

A person hears only what they understand.

A really great talent finds its happiness in execution.

All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.
All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.

All things are only transitory.

Be above it! Make the world serve your purpose, but do not serve it. As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.

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

Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image

Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing.

Common sense is the genius of humanity.

Do not give in too much to feelings. A overly sensitive heart is an unhappy possession on this shaky earth.
Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.

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.

First and last, what is demanded of genius is love of truth.

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

Fresh activity is the only means of overcoming adversity.


Great thoughts and a pure heart, that is what we should ask from God.
Hatred is something peculiar. You will always find it strongest and most violent where there is the lowest degree of culture.

He who does not think much of himself is much more esteemed than he imagines.

He who possesses art and science has religion; he who does not possess them, needs religion.
If you start to think of your physical and moral condition, you usually find that you are sick. If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words.

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.
 In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm... in the real world all rests on perseverance.
It is after all the greatest art to limit and isolate oneself. It is better to be deceived by one's friends than to deceive them.

It is in self-limitation that a master first shows himself

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

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

Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live. Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.
 Life is the childhood of our immortality.
Live dangerously and you live right.
Love can do much, but duty more.
Love does not dominate; it cultivates.

Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen.
Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.

Men show their character in nothing more clearly than what they think laughable.

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
Nothing is more fearful than imagination without taste.

Nothing is to be rated higher than the value of the day.

One can be instructed in society, one is inspired only in solitude.

What by a straight path cannot be reached by crooked ways is never won.
What is uttered from the heart alone, Will win the hearts of others to your own.
Which government is the best? The one that teaches us to govern ourselves.
Who is the wisest man? He who neither knows or wishes for anything else than what happens.  
Only by joy and sorrow does a person know anything about themselves and their destiny. They learn what to do and what to avoid. Passions are vices or virtues to their highest powers.

The man with insight enough to admit his limitations comes nearest to perfection.

We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.


 
Girls we love for what they are; young men for what they promise to be.