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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The day of fortune is like a harvest day,
We must be busy when the corn is ripe.
[Ger., Ein tag der Gunst ist wie ein Tag der Ernte,
Man muss geschaftig sein sobald sie reift.]
Fortune
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Torquato Tasso (IV, 4, 62)
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While man's desires and aspirations stir,
He can not choose but err.
[Ger., Es irrt der Mensch so lang er strebt.]
Errors
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Faust--Prolog im Himmel--Der Herr (l. 77)
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There are men who never err, because they never propose anything
rational.
[Ger., Est giebt Menschen die gar nicht irren, weil sie sich
nichts Vernunftiges vorsetzen.]
Errors
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Spruche in Prosa (III)
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He who is ignorant of foreign languages, knows not his own.
[Ger., Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiss nichts von seiner
eigenen.]
Linguists
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Kunst und Alterthum
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He who does not stretch himself according to the coverlet finds
his feet uncovered.
[Ger., Wer sich nicht nach der Decke streckt,
Dem bleiben die Fusse unbedeckt.]
Prudence
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Spruche In Reimen (III)
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Cursed Mammon be, when he with treasures
To restless action spurs our fate!
Cursed when for soft, indulgent leisures,
He lays for us the pillows straight.
Mammon
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Faust
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Everything in the world may be endured, except only a succession
of prosperous days.
[Ger., Alles in der Welt lasst sich ertragen,
Nur nicht eine Reihe von schonen Tagen.]
Prosperity
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Spruche in Reimen (III)
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Beware of her fair hair, for she excels
All women in the magic of her locks;
And when she winds them round a young man's neck,
She will not ever set him free again.
Hair
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Scenes from Faust (sc. The Hartz Mountain, l. 335), (Shelley's translation)
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Divide and command, a wise maxim;
Unite and guide, a better.
[Ger., Entzwei' und gebiete! Tuchtig Wort,
Verein' und leite! Bess'rer Hort.]
Unity
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Spruche in Reimen (l. 516)
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What one has wished for in youth, in old age one has in
abundance.
[Ger., Was man in der Jugend wunscht, hat man im Alter die
Fulle.]
Wishes
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Wahrheit und Dichtung (motto to part II)
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But what is your duty? What the day demands.
[Ger., Was aber ist deine Pflicht? Die Forderung des Tages.]
Duty
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Spruche in Prosa (III, 151)
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There was a king of Thule,
Was faithful till the grave,
To whom his mistress dying,
A golden goblet gave.
[Ger., Es war ein Konig in Tule
Gar treu bis an das Grab,
Dem sterbend seine Buhle
Einen gold'nen Becher gab.]
Royalty
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Faust--The King of Thule, (Bayard Taylor's translation)
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A noble soul alone can noble souls attract;
And knows alone, as ye, to hold them.
[Ger., Ein edler Mensch zieht edle Menschen an,
Und weiss sie fest zu halten, wie ihr thut.]
Nobility
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Torquato Tasso (I, 1, 59)
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Neither art thou the man to catch the fiend and hold him!
[Ger., Du bist noch nicht der Mann den Teufel festzuhalten.]
Power
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Faust (I, 3, 336)
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Yet through delivery orators succeed,
I feel that I am far behind indeed.
[Ger., Allein der Vortrag macht des Redners Gluck,
Ich fuhl es wohl noch bin ich weit zuruck.]
Oratory
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Faust (I, 1, 194)
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With little art, clear wit and sense
Suggest their own delivery.
[Ger., Es tragt Verstand und rechter Sinn,
Mit wenig Kunst sich selber vor.]
Oratory
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Faust (I, 1, 198)
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The highest happiness, the purest joys of life, wear out at last.
[Ger., Das beste Gluck, des Lebens schonste Kraft
Ermattet endlich.]
Happiness
Quotes, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Source: Iphigenia auf Tauris (IV, 5, 9)
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