219 Famous Quotes by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
8/28/1749 - 3/22/1832
Also Known As:
Johann Wolfgang Goethe
Goethe
Johann Goethe
Professions:
Information:
About Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, artist, and politician. 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, and more than 10,000 letters written by him are extant, as are nearly 3,000 drawings.
A literary celebrity by the age of 25, Goethe was ennobled by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Carl August in 1782 after first taking up residence there in November of 1775 following the success of his first novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther. He was an early participant in the Sturm und Drang literary movement, named for a play by his childhood friend Friedrich Maximilian Klinger. During his first ten years in Weimar, Goethe served as a member of the Duke's privy council, sat on the war and highway commissions, oversaw the reopening of silver mines in nearby Ilmenau, and implemented a series of administrative reforms at the University of Jena. He also contributed to the planning of Weimar's botanical park and the rebuilding of its Ducal Palace, which in 1998 were together designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Gifts come from above in their own peculiar forms.
[Ger., Die Gaben
Kommen von oben herab, in ihren eignen Gestalten.]
Gifts
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Hermann und Dorothea (canto V, l. 69)
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I make presents to the mother, but think of the daughter.
[Ger., Der Mutter schenk' ich,
Die Tochter denk' ich.]
Gifts
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Spruche in Reimen (III)
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For what one has in black and white,
One can carry home in comfort.
[Ger., Denn was man schwarz auf weiss besitzt,
Kann man getrost nach Hause tragen.]
Possession
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Faust (I, 4, 42)
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Two souls, alas! reside within my breast, and each withdraws
from and repels its brother.
[Ger., Zwei Seelen wohnen, ach! in meiner Brust,
Die eine will sich von der andern trennen.]
Conscience
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Faust (I, 2, 307)
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A good man, through obscurest aspirations
Has still an instinct of the one true way.
[Ger., Ein guter Mensch, in seinem dunkeln Drange,
Ist sich des rechten Weges sohl bewusst.]
Goodness
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Faust--Prolog in Himmel--Der Herr (l. 88)
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A fiery chariot, borne on buoyant pinions,
Sweeps near me now! I soon shall ready be
To pierce the ther's high, unknown dominions,
To reach new spheres of pure activity!
Action
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Faust (bk. I, sc. 1)
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The first and last thing required of genius is the love of truth.
[Ger., Das erste und letzte, was vom Genie gefordert wird, ist
Wahreits-Liebe.]
Genius
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Spruche in Prosa (III)
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The sagacious reader who is capable of reading between these
lines what does not stand written in them, but is nevertheless
implied, will be able to form some conception.
Reading
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Autobiography (bk. XVIII, Truth and Beauty)
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What they're accustomed to is no great matter,
But then, alas! they've read an awful deal.
[Ger., Zwar sind sie an das Beste nicht gewohnt,
Allein sie haben schrecklich viel gelesen.]
Reading
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Faust--Vorspiel auf dem Theater (l. 13), (Bayard Taylor's translation)
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Whoever gives himself up to solitude,
Ah! he is soon alone.
[Ger., Wer sich der Einsamkeit ergiebt,
Ach! der ist bald allein.]
Solitude
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Wilhelm Meister (II, 13)
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I wish the crowd to feel itself well treated,
Especially since it lives and lets me live.
[Ger., Ich wunschte sehr, der Menge zu behagen,
Besonders weil sie lebt und leben lasst.]
Public
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Faust Vorspiel auf dem Theater (l. 5)
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He who serves the public is a poor animal; he worries himself to
death and no one thanks him for it.
[Ger., Wer dem Publicum dient, ist ein armes Thier;
Er qualt sich ab, niemand bedankt sich dafur.]
Public
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Spruche in Reimen (III)
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The mortal race is far too weak not to grow dizzy on unwonted
brights.
[Ger., Das sterbliche Geschlecht ist viel zu schwach
In ungewohnter Hohe nicht zu schwindeln.]
Weakness
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Iphigenia auf Tauris (I, 3, 98)
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Properly speaking, such work is never finished; one must declare
it so when, according to time and circumstances, one has done
one's best.
[Ger., So eine Arbeit wird eigentlich nie fertig; man muss sie
fur fertig erklaren, wenn man nach Zeit und Umstand das
Moglichste getan hat.]
Work
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Italienische Reise
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A good man, through obscurest aspirations
Has still an instinct of the one true way.
[Ger., Ein guter Mensch, in seinem dunkeln Drange,
Ist sich des rechten Weges sohl bewusst.]
Instinct
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Faust--Prolog in Himmel--Der Herr (l. 88)
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The church alone beyond all question
Has for ill-gotten goods the right digestion.
[Ger., Die Kirch' allein, meine lieben Frauen,
Kann ungerechtes Gut verdauen.]
Churches
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Faust (I, 9, 35)
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Yes! to this thought I hold with firm persistence;
The last result of wisdom stamps it true;
He only earns his freedom and existence
Who daily conquers them anew.
Freedom
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Faust (act V, sc. 6)
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