Quotessence
Home / Authors / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes

Writer

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenIfsWorldKnowsArtLiteraturePeopleLifeThinkingDoeLoveMayInspirationalGivingShouldHeartActionPersonsWayMind

Famous Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes

“People are always talking about originality; but what do they mean? As soon as we are born, the world begins to work upon us; and this goes on to the end. And after all, what can we call our own, except energy, strength, and will? If I could give an account of all that I owe to great predecessors and contemporaries, there would be but a small balance in my favor.”

PeopleIfsWorldGivingMeanEndsWould BeEnergyBornTalkingGoes OnBalanceAccountsFavorsIf I CouldOriginalityPredecessors
Book:Conversations of Goethe with Johann Peter Eckermann
Create image

“All ages have said and repeated that one should strive to know one's self. This is a strange demand which no one up to now has measured up to and, strictly considered, no one should. With all their study and effort, people are directed to what is outside, to the world about them, and they are kept busy coming to know this and to master it to the extent that their purposes require. . . . How can you come to know yourself? Never by thinking, always by doing. Try to do your duty, and you'll know right away what you amount to. And what is your duty? Whatever the day calls for.”

PeopleThinkingKnowsWorldShouldTryingSaidSelfAgeTodayPurposeEffortStudyStrangeMastersDutyAmountDemandStriveBusyKnow Yourself
Author:Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Create image

“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.”

PeopleMindSoulCharacterFeelingsSchoolCertainCreationSolitudeQuietIntellectualConsciousClaimsLaysCreatorContemplationNobilityLoftySereneStatureStrength Of CharacterEndowmentSeclusionVexation
Book:Goethe's world view: presented in his reflections and maxims
Create image

“Whatever we may say against collections, which present authors in a disjointed form, they nevertheless bring about many excellent results. We are not always so composed, so full of wisdom, that we are able to take in at once the whole scope of a work according to its merits. Do we not mark in a book passages which seem to have a direct reference to ourselves? Young people especially, who have failed in acquiring a complete cultivation of mind, are roused in a praiseworthy way by brilliant passages.”

PeopleWayMindMayBookWholeSeemsAbleFormYoungResultsDirectMarkBrilliantExcellentMeritCollectionsPassagesNeverthelessQuotationsScopeCultivationPraiseworthy
Author:Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Create image