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
Nothing tells more about the character of a man than the things he makes fun of.
The best genius is that which absorbs and assimilates everything without doing the least violence to its fundamental destiny.
To live as one likes is plebian the noble man aspires to order and law.
The trouble is small, the fun is great. [Ger., Die Muh'ist klein, der Spass ist gross.]
If a man writes a book, let him set down only what he knows. I have guesses enough of my own.
We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.
If I love you, what business is it of yours?
Mathematicians are like Frenchmen: whatever you say to them they translate into their own language and forthwith it is something entirely different.
Correction does much, but encouragement does more.
To think is easy. To act is hard. But the hardest thing in the world is to act in accordance with your thinking.
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.