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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes

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Famous Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes

“What men usually say of misfortunes, that they never come alone, may with equal truth be said of good fortune; nay, of other circumstances which gather round us in a harmonious way, whether it arise from a kind of fatality, or that man has the power of attracting to himself things that are mutually related.”

MenWayKindMaySaidCircumstancesTruth IsEqualFortuneRoundsAriseRelatedMisfortunesGood FortuneHarmoniousMe AloneFatality
Author:Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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“You can’t, if you can’t feel it, if it never Rises from the soul, and sways The heart of every single hearer, With deepest power, in simple ways. You’ll sit forever, gluing things together, Cooking up a stew from other’s scraps, Blowing on a miserable fire, Made from your heap of dying ash. Let apes and children praise your art, If their admiration’s to your taste, But you’ll never speak from heart to heart, Unless it rises up from your heart’s space.”

IfsWayFeelsHeartChildrenArtMadeSoulTogetherSpeakSimpleSpaceForeverFireDyingTastePraiseCookingMiserableAdmirationAshesApesScrapStewHeart To HeartSimple Ways
Author:Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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“Sweet moonlight, shining full and clear, Why do you light my torture here? How often have you seen me toil, Burning last drops of midnight oil. On books and papers as I read, My friend, your mournful light you shed. If only I could flee this den And walk the mountain-tops again, Through moonlit meadows make my way, In mountain caves with spirits play - Released from learning's musty cell, Your healing dew would make me well!”

IfsWayWellsBookPlayLightLastsSpiritWalksHealingClearSweetMountainPaperMy FriendsShiningOilCellsBurningMy WayTortureShedToilMidnightCavesPapersMoonlightDewMeadowsDensMountain Top
Author:Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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“I examine my own being, and find there a world, but a world rather of imagination and dim desires, than of distinctness and living power. Then everything swims before my senses, and I smile and dream while pursuing my way through the world.”

WorldWayDreamDesireImaginationMy OwnSensesMy WaySwimI Smile
Book:THE SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER (Literary Classics Series): Historical Romance Novel
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“No two men see the world exactly alike, and different temperaments will apply in different ways a principle that they both acknowledge. The same man will, indeed, often see and judge the same things differently on different occasions: early convictions must give way to more mature ones. Nevertheless, may not the opinions that a man holds and expresses withstand all trials, if he only remains true to himself and others?”

IfsMenWorldWayGivingMayTwoDifferentOpinionPrinciplesJudgingRemainsConvictionTrialsOccasionsAcknowledgeDifferent WaysMatureNeverthelessTemperament
Book:Goethe on Art
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“The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never have otherwise occurred...unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.”

MenWayMomentsHelpingActionMovingActingMaterialsCommitmentMeetingsOneselfCommittedCommitAbundanceInitiativeProvidenceAssistanceMisunderstoodBoldnessIncidentsFavorites ThingsUnforeseenCommitment In BusinessInspirational CommitmentNo CommitmentBoldness And CourageMisunderstood GeniusIneffectiveness
Author:Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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“Someday someone will write a pathology of experimental physics and bring to light all those swindles which subvert our reason, beguile our judgement and, what is worse, stand in the way of any practical progress. The phenomena must be freed once and for all from their grim torture chamber of empiricism, mechanism, and dogmatism; they must be brought before the jury of man's common sense.”

MenWayWritingReasonLightScienceCommonProgressPhysicsPracticalsExperimentsCommon SenseJudgementTortureSomedayMechanismChamberJuryGrimDogmatismPathologyEmpiricism
Author:Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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“Quite often, as life goes on, when we feel completely secure as we go on our way, we suddenly notice that we are trapped in error, that we have allowed ourselves to be taken in by individuals, by objects, have dreamt up an affinity with them which immediately vanishes before our waking eye; and yet we cannot tear ourselves away, held fast by some power that seems incomprehensible to us. Sometimes, however, we become fully aware and realize that error as well as truth can move and spur us on to action.”

WayLifeFeelsWellsSometimesSeemsEyeActionMovingIndividualRealizingTakenAwarenessObjectsTearsGoes OnErrorsSecureWakingTrappedSpursAffinityLife Goes On
Author:Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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“True observers of nature, although they may think differently, will still agree that everything that is, everything that is observable as a phenomenon, can only exhibit itself in one of two ways. It is either a primal polarity that is able to unify, or it is a primal unity that is able to divide. The operation of nature consists of splitting the united or uniting the divided; this is the eternal movement of systole and diastole of the heartbeat, the inhalation and exhalation of the world in which we live, act, and exist.”

ThinkingWorldWayLifeHeartMayStillsTwoAbleUnitedMovementEternalAgreeUnityOperationsPhenomenonDividedDividesObserversHeartbeatTwo WaysExhibitsPrimalSplittingUnitingPolarity
Author:Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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“From inaccessible mountain range by way of desert untrod by human foot to the ends of the unknown seas, the breath of the everlasting creative spirit is felt, rejoicing over every speck of dust that hearkens to it and lives.”

WayLifeHumansEndsSpiritFeltCreativeSeaFeetMountainBreathsDustDesertRangeRejoiceEverlastingSpecksInaccessibleCreative SpiritMountain Ranges
Book:Goethe's world view: presented in his reflections and maxims
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“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
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