Goethe Quotes

The world cannot do without great men, but great men are very troublesome to the world.

Know'st thou yesterday, its aim and reason? Work'st thou will today for worthier things? Then calmly wait the morrow's hidden season, And fear thou not, what hap soe'er it brings

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

Great possessions and great want of them are both strong temptations.

The eternal feminine doth draw us upward. [Ger., Das Ewig-Weibliche zieht uns hinan.]

Go to foreign countries and you will get to know the good things one possesses at home.

Perfection is the measure of heaven, and the wish to be perfect the measure of man.

Riches amassed in haste will diminish; but those collected by hand and little by little will multiply.

The new vulcanism is really a daring attempt to connect the present, incomprehensible world to a past, unknown one.

Every step of life shows much caution is required.

A person is never happy till their vague strivings has itself marked out its proper limitations.

The true poet is called to take in the splendor of the world and for that reason will always be inclined to praise rather than tofind fault.

Mysteries are not necessarily miracles.

Excellence is rarely found, more rarely valued.

A talent can be cultivated in tranquility; a character only in the rushing stream of life.

A vain man can never be utterly ruthless: he wants to win applause and therefore he accommodates himself to others

Too rigid scruples are concealed pride.

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

When two men quarrel, who owns the cooler head is the more to blame.

Man supposes that he directs his life and governs his actions, when his existence is irretrievably under the control of destiny

Nothing is so atrocious as fancy without taste.

A purpose you impart is no longer your own.

Thou shalt abstain, Renounce, refrain.

There is nothing more fearful than imagination without taste. [Ger., Es ist nichts furchterlicher als Einbildungskraft ohne Geschmack.]

To be active is the primary vocation of man.

Age childish makes, they say, but 'tis not true; We're only genuine children still in Age's season. [Ger., Das Alter macht nicht kindisch, wie man spricht, Es findet uns nur noch als wahre Kinder.]

If society gives up the right to impose the death penalty, then self-help will appear again and personal vendettas will be around the corner.

Character - in things great and small - is indicated when a man (or person) pursues with sustained follow-through what he feels himself capable of doing.

Manners form the great charm of women.

There is a politeness of the heart; this is closely allied to love.

Action has magic, grace and power in it.

To the man of thought almost nothing is really ridiculous.

I am certain that I have been here as I am now a thousand times before, and I hope to return a thousand times.

English plays, Atrocious in content, Absurd in form, Objectionable in action, Execrable EnglishTheatre.

People are so constituted that everybody would rather undertake what they see others do, whether they have an aptitude for it or not.

Thou art in the end what thou art. Put on wigs with millions of curls, set thy foot upon ell-high rocks. Thou abidest ever--what thou art.

There is nothing new on earth / For a person who lives long and experiences much. / In my years of youthful wandering / I have seen crystallized people.

For a strolling damsel a doubtful reputation bears. [Ger., Denn ein wanderndes Madchen ist immer von schwankendem Rufe.]

Beauty vanishes; virtue is lasting.

The art of living rightly is like all arts; it must be learned and practiced with incessant care.

The mob has nothing to lose, everything to gain.

Error is acceptable as long as we are young; but one must not drag it along into old age.

If one has not read the newspapers for some months and then reads them all together, one sees, as one never saw before, how much time is wasted with this kind of literature.

I think that I am better than the people who are trying to reform me.

When I make a mistake everyone can see it, but not when I lie.

Sin writes histories, goodness is silent. [Ger., Das Uebel macht eine Geschichte und das Gute keine.]

Make the most of time, it flies away so fast; yet method will teach you to win time.

Whoever, in middle age, attempts to realize the wishes and hopes of his early youth, invariably deceives himself. Each ten years of a man's life has its own fortunes, its own hopes, its own desires.

The world sees only the reflection of merit; therefore when you come to know a really great man intimately, you may as often find him above as below his reputation.

While man's desires and aspirations stir he cannot choose but err.