Authors:

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes - Page 12

All Quotes Abundance Acceptance Accomplishment Achievement Acting Adventure Adversity Age Aging Ambition Appreciation Architecture Art Art And Science Atheism Attitude Awareness Beauty Being Alone Belief Bible Birth Blame Business Challenges Change Character Chess Childhood Children Christ Church Commitment Common Sense Communication Confusion Contemplation Contentment Country Courage Creation Creativity Criticism Culture Darkness Death Deception Desire Destiny Devil Difficulty Doubt Duty Dying Earth Education Effort Encouragement Energy Enthusiasm Envy Equality Eternity Evil Evolution Excellence Exercise Expectations Experience Failing Faith Fame Family Fashion Fate Fear Feelings Fitness Focus Freedom Friendship Funny Generosity Genius Giving God Grace Gratitude Greatness Grief Growth Happiness Hard Work Harmony Hate Hatred Health Heart Heaven History Home Honesty Honor Hope Human Nature Humanity Hypocrisy Identity Ignorance Imagination Immortality Individuality Innovation Inspiration Inspirational Inspiring Integrity Intelligence Jesus Joy Judging Judgment Justice Knowledge Language Laughter Leadership Learning Leaving Liberty Life Literature Logic Love Lying Magic Manifestation Mankind Manners Marriage Math Mediocrity Meditation Memories Moderation Morality Morning Motivation Motivational Mountain Music Nature New Beginnings Opportunity Originality Pain Painting Passion Past Peace Perception Perfection Perseverance Persistence Personality Persuasion Philosophy Piety Pleasure Poetry Politics Positive Positivity Power Praise Prejudice Pride Productivity Progress Prudence Purpose Quality Reading Reality Reflection Reincarnation Religion Reputation Respect Revolution Running Sacrifice Safety Salvation School Science Setting Goals Sickness Silence Simplicity Sin Skepticism Sleep Society Solitude Sorrow Soul Spirituality Sports Spring Strength Struggle Students Study Stupidity Style Success Suffering Sympathy Talent Teaching Technology Temptation Time Today Tolerance Tranquility Travel Trust Truth Understanding Unity Universe Violence Virtue Vision Waiting War Water Weakness Wealth Wife Wine Winning Winter Wisdom Work Worship Writing Yoga Youth
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

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.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Life, Heart, Thinking

What is my life if I am no longer useful to others.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Life, Literature, Ifs

Theories are usually the over-hasty efforts of an impatient understanding that would gladly be rid of phenomena, and so puts in their place pictures, notions, nay, often mere words.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Effort, Understanding, Impatient
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (2015). “Maxims and Reflections”, p.174, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Man's highest merit always is, as much as possible, to rule external circumstances and as little as possible to let himself be ruled by them.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Men, Littles, Merit
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1924). “Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and Travels”, p.428, Library of Alexandria

Only law can give us freedom.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Freedom, Law, Giving

Each one of us must carry within the proof of immortality, it cannot be given from outside of us. To be sure, everything in natureis change but behind the change there is something eternal.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Change, Immortality, Proof

Investigate what is, and not what pleases.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Please
"'Der Versuch als Vermittler von Objekt und Subjekt' ('The Attempt as Mediator of Object and Subject')". Essay by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1792.

People of uncommon abilities generally fall into eccentricities when their sphere of life is not adequate to their abilities.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Life, Fall, People

Doubt grows with knowledge.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
War, Doubt, Grows
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1897). “Criticisms, reflections, and maxims of Goethe: Tr., with an introduction”

In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm... in the real world all rests on perseverance.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Leadership, Perseverance, Business

Freedom consists not in refusing to recognize anything above us, but in respecting something which is above us; for by respecting it, we raise ourselves to it, and, by our very acknowledgment, prove that we bear within ourselves what is higher, and are worthy to be on a level with it.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Freedom, Levels, Bears
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1935). “Conversations with Goethe”

Fret not over the irretrievable, but ever act as if thy life were just begun.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Past, Ifs

It is the color closest to light. In its utmost purity it always implies the nature of brightness and has a cheerful, serene, gently stimulating character. Hence, experience teaches us that yellow makes a thoroughly warm and comforting impression.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Character, Light, Color

So, lively brisk old fellow, don't let age get you down. White hairs or not, you can still be a lover.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Friendship, Hair, White

Energy will do anything that can be done in this world.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Thinking, Energy, Done

Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Hope, Enough, Anxious

Stupidity is without anxiety.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Stupidity, Anxiety
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johann Peter Eckermann, Frédéric Jacob Soret (1850). “Conversations of Goethe with Eckermann and Soret”, p.177

Fortunately, we can take in only so much misfortune; what exceeds that limit either destroys us or leaves us indifferent.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Limits, Indifferent, Exceed

I hate everything that merely instructs me without augmenting or directly invigorating my activity.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Education, Hate, Activity

Gifts come from above in their own peculiar forms.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Peculiar, Form
"Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations" by Jehiel Keeler Hoyt, p. 311-13, Hermann und Dorothea, Canto V, line 69, 1922.

It is the strange fate of man, that even in the greatest of evils the fear of the worst continues to haunt him.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Inspirational, Fear, Fate

The sum which two married people owe to one another defies calculation. It is an infinite debt, which can only be discharged through all eternity.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Love, Anniversary, Marriage
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (2016). “Elective Affinities”, p.65, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Every reader, if he has a strong mind, reads himself into the book, and amalgamates his thoughts with those of the author.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Strong, Book, Reading

Who is the happiest man? He who is alive to the merit of others, and can rejoice in their enjoyment as if it were his own.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Inspirational, Happiness, Men

All perishable is but an allegory.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Allegory
"Faust, Part 2". Book by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Act V, 1832.

You May Also Like: