Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes

All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again. Goethe

A talent is formed in stillness, a character in the world’s torrent. Goethe

Nothing is as terrible to see as ignorance in action. Goethe

Impotent hatred is the most horrible of all emotions; one should hate nobody whom one cannot destroy. Goethe

It is better to do the most trifling thing in the world than to regard half an hour as a trifle. Goethe

Everybody wants to be somebody: nobody wants to grow. Goethe

To measure up to all that is demanded of him, a man must overestimate his capacities. Goethe

He who cannot love must learn to flatter. Goethe

Love does not dominate; it cultivates. Goethe

Our friends show us what we can do, our enemies teach us what we must do. Goethe

Everything in the world may be endured except continued prosperity. Goethe

Nothing shows a man’s character more than what he laughs at. Goethe

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Goethe

Only learn to seize good fortune, for good fortune is always here. Goethe

Self knowledge is best learned, not by contemplation, but action. Strive to do your duty and you will soon discover of what stuff you are made. Goethe

When ideas fail, words come in very handy. Goethe

Few people have the imagination for reality. Goethe

Fresh activity is the only means of overcoming adversity. Goethe

We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves. Goethe

Correction does much, but encouragement does more. Encouragement after censure is as the sun after a shower. Goethe

Do not give in too much to feelings. A overly sensitive heart is an unhappy possession on this shaky earth. Goethe

A vain man can never be utterly ruthless: he wants to win applause and therefore he accommodates himself to others. Goethe

There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From it springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior. Goethe

He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. Goethe

I love those who yearn for the impossible. Goethe

Nature knows no pause in progress and development, and attaches her curse on all inaction. Goethe

A man’s manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait. Goethe

We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves. Goethe

The most important thing in life is to have a goal, and the determination to achieve it. Goethe

Deny yourself! You must deny yourself! That is the song that never ends. Goethe

The thinking person has the strange characteristic to like to create a fantasy in the place of the unsolved problem, a fantasy that stays with the person even when the problem has been solved and truth made its appearance. Goethe

Tolerance should really be only a temporary attitude; it must lead to recognition. To tolerate means to offend. Goethe

It is a maxim of wise government to deal with men not as they ought to be but as they are. Goethe

Our wishes are presentiments of the abilities that lie in us, harbingers of what we will be able to accomplish. Goethe

For usually people resist as long as they can to dismiss the fool they harbour in their bosom, they resist to confess a major mistake or to admit a truth that makes them despair. Goethe