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
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.
Try novelties for salesman's bait, For novelty wins everyone.
I think that I am better than the people who are trying to reform me.
There is nothing worth thinking but it has been thought before; we must only try to think it again.
A man must cling to the belief that the incomprehensible is comprehensible; otherwise he would not try to fathom it.
Children, love one another, and if that is not possible-at least try to put up with one another.
I never believed in trying to do anything. Whatever I set out to do I found I had already accomplished.
How can we learn self-knowledge? Never by taking thought but rather by action. Try to do your duty and you'll soon discover what you're like.
The safest thing is always to try to convert everything that is in us and around us into action; let the others talk and argue about it as they please.
Truth is a torch, but a terrific one; therefore we all try to reach it with closed eyes, lest we should be scorched.
How can you come to know yourself? Never by thinking, always by doing. Try to do your duty, and you'll know right away what you amount to.
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.