Woe to falsehood! it affords n...

Woe to falsehood! it affords no relief to the breast, like truth; it gives us no comfort, pains him who forges it, and like an arrow directed by a god flies back and wounds the archer.

Nothing is so atrocious as fan...

Nothing is so atrocious as fancy without taste.

Moral epochs have their course...

Moral epochs have their course as well as the seasons. We can no more hold them fast than we can hold sun, moon, and stars. Our faults perpetually return upon us; and herein lies the subtlest difficulty of self-knowledge.

What sort of faults may we ret...

What sort of faults may we retain, nay, even cherish in ourselves? Those faults which are rather pleasant than offensive to others.

Change amuses the mind, but ra...

Change amuses the mind, but rarely profits.

The flowers of life are but vi...

The flowers of life are but visionary. How many pass away and leave no trace behind! How few yield any fruit,--and the fruit itself, how rarely does it ripen! And yet there are flowers enough; and is it not strange, my friend, that we should suffer the little that does really ripen to rot, decay, and perish unenjoyed?

The first and last thing requi...

The first and last thing required of genius is the love of truth.
[Ger., Das erste und letzte, was vom Genie gefordert wird, ist Wahreits-Liebe.]

Gifts come from above in their...

Gifts come from above in their own peculiar forms.
[Ger., Die Gaben
Kommen von oben herab, in ihren eignen Gestalten.]

For to give is the business of...

For to give is the business of the rich.
[Lat., Denn Geben ist Sache des Reichen.]

We love a girl for very differ...

We love a girl for very different qualities than understanding. We love her for her beauty, her youth, her mirth, her confidingness, her character, with its faults, caprices and God knows what other inexpressible charms; but we do not love her understanding.

Wood burns because it has the ...

Wood burns because it has the proper stuff for that purpose in it; and a man becomes renowned because he has the necessary stuff in him. Renown is not to be sought, and all pursuit of it is vain. A person may, indeed, by skillful conduct and various artificial means, make a sort of name for himself; but if the inner jewel is wanting, all is vanity, and will not last a day.

He who is resolute conquers gr...

He who is resolute conquers grief.

The sickness of the heart is m...

The sickness of the heart is most easily got rid of by complaining and soothing confidence.

The public wishes itself to be...

The public wishes itself to be managed like a woman; one must say nothing to it except what it likes to hear.

Nobody, they say, is a hero to...

Nobody, they say, is a hero to his valet. Of course; for a man must be a hero to understand a hero. The valet, I dare say, has great respect for some person of his own stamp.

To a valet no man is a hero.

To a valet no man is a hero.
[Ger., Es gibt fur den Kammerdiener keiner Helden.]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 03.03.2018 03:03:03 2265 quotes

Sin writes histories, goodness...

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

Humor is one of the elements o...

Humor is one of the elements of genius--admirable as an adjunct; but as soon as it becomes dominant, only a surrogate for genius.

There is nothing more frightfu...

There is nothing more frightful than an active ignorance.
[Ger., Es ist nichts schrecklicher als eine thatige Unwissenheit.]

Ill-humor is nothing more than...

Ill-humor is nothing more than an inward feeling of our own want of merit, a dissatisfaction with ourselves which is always united with an envy that foolish vanity excites.