Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Germany
28 Aug 1749 // 22 Mar 1832
Poet / Novelist / Humanist / Scientist / Philosopher
28 Aug 1749 // 22 Mar 1832
Poet / Novelist / Humanist / Scientist / Philosopher
Quotes
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The solution of every problem is another problem
The public wishes itself to be managed like a woman; one must say nothing to it except what it likes to hear
The most original modern authors are not so because they advance what is new, but simply because they know how to put what they have to say, as if it had never been said before
The man who acts never has any conscience; no one has any conscience but the man who thinks
The happy do not believe in miracles
The day is committed to error and floundering; success and achievement are matters of long range
The connoisseur of art must be able to appreciate what is simply beautiful, but the common run of people is satisfied with ornament
Take life too seriously, and what is it worth? If the morning wake us to no new joys, if the evening bring us not the hope of new pleasure, is it worthwhile to dress and undress?
Sin writes histories, goodness is silent
Progress has not followed a straight ascending line, but a spiral with rhythms of progress and retrogression, of evolution and dissolution
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays
Essays