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
Everybody wants to get old, but nobody wants to be old
Faith is a homely, private capital; as there are public savings-banks and poor funds, out of which in times of want we can relieve the necessities of individuals, so here the faithful take their coin in peace.
A vain man can never be utterly ruthless: he wants to win applause and therefore he accommodates himself to others
Nothing is good for a nation but that which arises from its own core and its own general wants, without apish imitation of another.
If you treat men the way they are you never improve them. If you treat them the way you want them to be, you do.
If you want to reach the infinite, then explore every aspect of the finite.
To quit smoking, you must first want to quit, but then you must also do the quitting
Whatever is the lot of humankind I want to taste within my deepest self. I want to seize the highest and the lowest, to load its woe and bliss upon my breast, and thus expand my single self titanically and in the end go down with all the rest.
The rich want good wine, the poor, plenty of wine
If you want to get pleasure out of life, you must attach value to the world.
The misfortune in the state is, that nobody can enjoy life in peace, but that everybody must govern; and in art, that nobody will enjoy what has been produced, but that every one wants to reproduce on his own account.
Great possessions and great want of them are both strong temptations.
Seldom in the business and transactions of ordinary life, do we find the sympathy we want.
Don't say that you want to give, but go ahead and give! You'll never catch up with a mere hope.