Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes - Page 28

• To the man of thought almost nothing is really ridiculous.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Men, Ridiculous, He Man

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

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• Patriotism ruins history.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Honesty, Patriotism, Ruins

  Conversation with Friedrich Wilhem Riemer, July 1817.

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• Forget not that the man who cannot enjoy his own natural gifts in silence, and find his reward in the exercise of them, will generally find himself badly off.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Exercise, Men, Silence

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• Nothing is more dangerous than solitude.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Solitude, Dangerous

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, David E. Wellbery (1988). “The Sorrows of Young Werther ; Elective Affinities ; Novella”, p.42, Princeton University Press

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• Clever people are always the best conversations lexicon.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Clever, Intelligent, People

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• Whatever liberates our spirit, without also giving us mastery over ourselves, is destructive.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Freedom, Giving, Mastery

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• The beginning of faith is the beginning of fruitfulness; but the beginning of unbelief, however glittering, is empty.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Faith, Lying, Empty

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• Nature understands no jesting. She is always true, always serious, always severe. She is always right, and the errors are always those of man.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Nature, Men, Errors

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johann Peter Eckermann (2014). “Conversations of Goethe with Johann Peter Eckermann”, p.346, Ravenio Books

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• 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

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• Nature does not suffer her veil to be taken from her, and what she does not choose to reveal to the spirit, thou wilt not wrest from her by levers and screws.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Nature, Taken, Science

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• To make a young couple love each other, it is only necessary to oppose and separate them.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Couple, Young, Love Each Other

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• Where there is much light, the shadows are deepest.
  [Ger., Wo viel Licht is, ist starker Schatten.]

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Light, Shadow

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• Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Inspirational, Motivational, Friendship

  "My Country", Volume 2, No. 3, published by Litchfield Historical Society, p. 23, September 1968.

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• Solitude is fine when you are at peace with yourself and have something definite to do.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Solitude, Fine, Definite

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• Colors are the deeds/ and sufferings of light.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Art, Light, Color

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• What government is the best? That which teaches us to govern ourselves.
  [Ger., Welche Regierung die beste sei? Diejenige die uns lehrt uns selbst zu regieren.]

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Government, Teach, Dies

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• Why should we not recognize in the lightning, the thunder, and the storm wind, the approach of an overwhelming Power, and in the scent of flowers and the gently rustling zephyr the presence of a Being full of love?

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Love, Flower, Power

  Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1989). “Criticisms, Reflections, and Maxims of Goethe”, Richard West

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• Continue to make the demands of the day your immediate concern, and take occasion to test the purity of your hearts and the steadfastness of your spirits. When you then take a deep breath and rise above the cares of this world and in an hour of leisure, you will surely win the proper frame of mind to face devoutly what is above us, with reverence, seeing in all events the manifestation of a higher guidance.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Attitude, Heart, Winning

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• In the end we are all separate: our stories, no matter how similar, come to a fork and diverge. We are drawn to each other because of our similarities, but it is our differences we must learn to respect.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Respect, Differences, Stories

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• There is no better deliverance from the world than through art, and a man can form no surer bond with it.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Art, Men, World

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1872). “Goethe's Elective Affinities”, p.202

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• If you want to reach the infinite, then explore every aspect of the finite.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Garden, Religion, Want

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• Hold your powers together for something good and let everything go that is for you without result and is not suited to you.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Together, Results

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johann Peter Eckermann, Hans Kohn (1964). “Conversations with Goethe”, Not Avail

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• How to please the public - that's the test, But nowadays I find I'm in a fix; I know they're not accustomed to the best, But they've all read so much they know the tricks. How can we give then something fresh and new That's serious, but entertaining too?

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Giving, Tests, Serious

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (2016). “The Essential Goethe”, p.250, Princeton University Press

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

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Greatness, Men, World

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1853). “Goethe's Opinions on the World, Mankind, Literature, Science, and Art”, p.115

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• As man is, so is his God. And thus is God oft strangely odd.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  God, Men, Odd

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