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
True works of art are a manifestation of the higher laws of nature.
Art will always be art.
A genuine work of art usually displeases at first sight, as it suggests a deficiency in the spectator.
Beauty is at once the ultimate principle and the highest aim of art.
Continue to make the demands of the day your immediate concern, and take occasion to test the purity of your hearts and the steadfastness of your spirits. When you then take a deep breath and rise above the cares of this world and in an hour of leisure, you will surely win the proper frame of mind to face devoutly what is above us, with reverence, seeing in all events the manifestation of a higher guidance.
We can redeem anyone who strives unceasingly.
With little wit and ease to suit them, They whirl in narrow circling trails, Like kittens playing with their tails.
The mortal race is far too weak not to grow dizzy on unwonted brights.
Water its living strength first shows, When obstacles its course oppose.
A vi'let on the meadow grew, That no one saw, that no one knew, It was a modest flower. A shepherdess pass'd by that way-- Light footed, pretty and so gay; That way she came, Softly warbling forth her lay.
The universal subjugator, the commonplace.
Divide and command, a wise maxim; Unite and guide, a better.
What do people mean when they talk about unhappiness? It is not so much unhappiness as impatience that from time to time possesses men, and then they choose to call themselves miserable.
Care is taken that trees do not grow into the sky.