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 respect the man who knows distinctly what he wants.
The greater part of all the mischief in the world arises from the fact that men do not sufficiently understand their own aims.
To be pleased with one's limits is a wretched state.
The highest goal that man can achieve is amazement.
Piety is not a goal but a means to attain through the purest peace of mind the highest culture.
Thus one can observe that those who proclaim piety as their goal and purpose usually turn into hypocrites.
Energy is the basis of everything. Every Jew, no matter how insignificant, is engaged in some decisive and immediate pursuit of a goal... It is the most perpetual people of the earth...
The important thing in life is to have a great aim, and the determination to attain it.
It is not enough to take steps which may someday lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise.
A distracted existence leads us to no goal
In all things it is better to hope than to despair
Each one sees what he carries in his heart
Everybody wants to get old, but nobody wants to be old
That is the true season of love; when we believe that we alone can love, that no one could ever have loved as much before, and that no one will ever love in the same way again.