Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes About Character

• Character develops itself in the stream of life.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Life, Character, Streams

• There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Inspirational, Laughter, Character

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (2016). “Elective Affinities”, p.142, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

• You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Loyalty, Respect, Honesty

• Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Inspirational, Smile, Laughter

  "Biography / Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

• Nothing tells more about the character of a man than the things he makes fun of.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Fun, Character, Men

• Everybody wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Inspirational, Change, Clever

• Talent develops in quiet, alone; character is sharpened in the torrent of the world.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Character, World, Quiet

• We can really respect a man only if he doesn't always look out for himself.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Respect, Character, Men

• It is the color closest to light. In its utmost purity it always implies the nature of brightness and has a cheerful, serene, gently stimulating character. Hence, experience teaches us that yellow makes a thoroughly warm and comforting impression.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Character, Light, Color

• A talent is formed in stillness, a character in the world's torrent.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Life, Education, Teacher

  "Torquato Tasso". Play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Act 1, Scene 2, 1790.

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

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Character, Rushing, Talent

• Every man must form himself as a particular being, seeking, however, to attain that general idea of which all mankind are constituents.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Character, Men, Ideas

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johann Peter Eckermann (1949). “Words of Goethe: being the conversations of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe”

• One should not wish anyone disagreeable conditions of life; but for him who is involved in them by chance, they are touchstones of characters and of the most decisive value to man.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Happiness, Character, Men

• What is the true test of character unless it be its progressive development in the bustle and turmoil, in the action and reaction of daily life.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Character, Development, Tests

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1853). “Goethe's Opinions on the World, Mankind, Literature, Science, and Art”, p.46

• Men's prejudices rest upon their character for the time being and cannot be overcome, as being part and parcel of themselves. Neither evidence nor common sense nor reason has the slightest influence upon them.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Character, Men, Common Sense

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (2015). “Maxims and Reflections”, p.96, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

• As for solitude, I cannot understand how certain people seek to lay claim to intellectual stature, nobility of soul and strength of character, yet have not the slightest feeling for seclusion; for solitude, I maintain, when joined with a quiet contemplation of nature, a serene and conscious faith in creation and the Creator, and a few vexations from outside is the only school for a mind of lofty endowment.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Character, School, People

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1963). “Goethe's world view: presented in his reflections and maxims”

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

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Inspirational, Humor, Character

• Talent is nurtured in solitude; character is formed in the stormy billows of the world.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Character, Literature, World

  "Torquato Tasso". Play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Act 1, Scene 2, 66, 1790.

• Character, in great and little things, means carrying through what you feel able to do.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Success, Encouragement, Character

• 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.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Girl, Character, Understanding

• Character is constructed amidst the tempests of the World

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Character, World, Tempest

• In society every man is taken for what he gives himself out to be; but he must give himself out to be something. Better to be slightly disagreeable than altogether insignificant.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Taken, Character, Men

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Stuart Blackie (1883). “The Wisdom of Goethe”, Edinburgh, W. Blackwood

• The history of a man is in his character.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Character, Men

• The history of mankind is his character.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Character, History, Historical

• I can promise to be upright, but not to be without bias.
  [Ger., Aufrichtig zu sein kann ich versprechen; unparteiisch zu sein aber nicht.]

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Character, Promise, Bias

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