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
It is in self-imitation that a master first shows himself.
Life teaches us to be less harsh with ourselves than with others
Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together
Know thyself""? If I knew myself I'd run away
Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live.
Whatever liberates our spirit without giving us self-control is disastrous.
There is no art in turning a goddess into a witch, a virgin into a whore, but the opposite operation, to give dignity to what has been scorned, to make the degraded disireable, that calls for art or for character.
Our passion are the true phoenixes; when the old one is burnt out, a new one rises from its ashes.
People may live as much retired from the world as they like, but sooner or later they find themselves debtor or creditor to some one.
People of a vertain rank will always keep a cool distance from common people, as if they were afraid to lose their dignity by too much familiarity.
Some of our weakness is born in us, some of it comes through education; it is a big question as to which gives us the most trouble.
Girls we love for what they are; men for what they promise to be.
If any wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul.
If any man wishes to write a clear style, let him first be clear in his thoughts.