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
I am the spirit that negates. And rightly so, for all that comes to be Deserves to perish wretchedly; 'Twere better nothing would begin. Thus everything that that your terms, sin, Destruction, evil represent— That is my proper element.
Humor is one of the elements of genius--admirable as an adjunct; but as soon as it becomes dominant, only a surrogate for genius.
Die Zeit ist selbst ein Element. Time is itself an element.
I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate.
Time itself is an element.
The society of women is the element of good manners.
When all is said the greatest action is to limit and isolate one's self.
I've studied now Philosophy and Jurisprudence, Medicine - and even, alas! Theology - from end to end with labor keen; and here, poor fool with all my lore I stand, no wiser than before.
I've studied now Philosophy and Jurisprudence, Medicine -- and even, alas! Theology -- from end to end with labor keen; and here, poor fool with all my lore I stand, no wiser than before.
The right man is the one that seizes the moment.
There would be far less suffering in the world if human beings-God knows why they are made like this-did not use their imaginations so busily in recalling the memories of past misfortunes, instead of trying to bear an indifferent present.
Es gibt kein Vergangenes, daß man zurücksehnen dürfte, es gibt nur ein ewig Neues, daß sich aus den erweiterten Elementen des Vergangenen gestaltet; und die echte Sehnsucht muß stets produktiv sein, ein neues Besseres zu schaffen.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
Everything in the world may be endured except continued prosperity.