Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes - Page 16

• One cannot develop taste from what is of average quality but only from the very best.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Average, Quality, Taste

  "Conversations with Eckermann". Book by Johann Peter Eckermann and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, February 26, 1824.

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• I can tell you, honest friend, what to believe: believe life; it teaches better that book or orator.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Believe, Book, Learning

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• To be loved for what one is, that is the greatest exception. The great majority love in others only what they lend him; their own selves, their version of him.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Love, Self, Majority

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• Mystery is truth's dancing partner.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Dancing, Mystery, Partners

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• A person places themselves on a level with the ones they praise.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Self Esteem, Self Respect, Literature

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• Unlimited activity, of whatever kind, must end in bankruptcy.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Kind, Moderation, Ends

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

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

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  People, Noble, Nobility

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

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• Higher aims are in themselves more valuable, even if unfulfilled, than lower ones quite attained.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Aim, Valuable, Higher

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (2013). “Delphi Works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Illustrated)”, p.3579, Delphi Classics

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• A teacher who can arouse a feeling for one single good action, for one single good poem, accomplishes more than he who fills our memory with rows and rows of natural objects, classified with name and form.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Wisdom, Teacher, Memories

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (2016). “Elective Affinities”, p.175, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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• Wine rejoices the heart of man and joy is the mother of all virtues.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Mother, Heart, Wine

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1837). “Goetz Von Berlichingen with the Iron Hand: A Drama in Five Acts”, p.20

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• If you don't know foreign languages, you don't know anything about your own.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Language, Foreign Language, Knows

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• He who does not stretch himself according to the coverlet finds his feet uncovered.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Feet, Doe, Prudence

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• Science and art belong to the whole world, and before them vanish the barriers of nationality.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Art, Science, World

  Speech by King Willem-Alexander at the Diplomatic Corps dinner, Royal Palace, Amsterdam, www.royal-house.nl. June 24, 2015.

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• Originality provokes originality.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Originality, Provoking

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1853). “Goethe's Opinions on the World, Mankind, Literature, Science, and Art”, p.41

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• You are certainly wrong to compare suicide ... with great accomplishments, since it cannot be considered as anything but a weakness. After all, it is easier to die than to endure a harrowing life with fortitude.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Suicide, Accomplishment, Weakness

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• Generosity wins favour for everyone, especially when it is accompanied by modesty.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Winning, Generosity, Favour

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• It is opposition that makes us productive.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Opposition, Productive

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• The mediator of the inexpressible is the work of art.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Art, Work, Works Of Art

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• When translating one must proceed up to the intranslatable; only then one becomes aware of the foreign nation and the foreign tongue.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Tongue, Language, Translate

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• Man must strive, and striving he must err.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Men, Strive

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1973). “Faust”, p.14, Penguin UK

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

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Inspirational, Children, Being Alone

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• There is nothing so terrible as activity without insight.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Insight, Terrible, Activity

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

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Generosity, Giving, Absence

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• Plunge boldly into the thick of life, and seize it where you will, it is always interesting.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Inspirational, Life, Adventure

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• Alas! how much there is in education, and in our social institutions, to prepare us and our children for insanity.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Education, Children, Insanity

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1842). “Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and Travels”, p.78

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