Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann WolfgangGoethetə/; German: ; 28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German writer and statesman. His body of work includes epic and lyric poetry written in a variety of metres and styles; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour; and four novels. In addition, numerous literary and scientific fragments, more than 10,000 letters, and nearly 3,000 drawings by him exist...
NationalityGerman
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth28 August 1749
CountryGermany
Love and desire are the spirit's wings to great deeds.
It is not doing the thing we like to do, but liking the thing we have to do, that makes life blessed.
Divide and rule, the politician cries; unite and lead, is watchword of the wise.
Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.
Ignorant men raise questions that wise men answered a thousand years ago.
Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing.
Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.
The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone.
Our destiny often looks like a fruit-tree in winter. Who would think from its pitiable aspect that those rigid boughs, those rough twigs could next spring again be green, bloom, and even bear fruit? Yet we hope it, we know it.
The true poet is called to take in the splendor of the world and for that reason will always be inclined to praise rather than tofind fault.
We love a girl for very different qualities than understanding. We love her for her beauty, her youth, her mirth, her confidingness, her character, with its faults, caprices and God knows what other inexpressible charms; but we do not love her understanding.
The beautiful is a phenomenon which is never apparent of itself, but is reflected in a thousand different works of the creator.
Progress has not followed a straight ascending line, but a spiral with rhythms of progress and retrogression, of evolution and dissolution.
Those who make use of devotion as a means and end generally are hypocrites.