Quotes by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
There is nothing so terrible as activity without insight.
Only by joy and sorrow does a person know anything about themselves and their destiny. They learn what to do and what to avoid.
I never knew a more presumptuous person than myself. The fact that I say that shows that what I say is true.
The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become.
There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.
I love those who yearn for the impossible.
There is nothing insignificant in the world. It all depends on the point of view.
What matters in art is not thinking but making.
We can offer up much in the large, but to make sacrifices in little things is what we are seldom equal to.
Whatever liberates our spirit, without also giving us mastery over ourselves, is destructive.
To be sure, a good work of art can and will have moral consequences, but to demand of the artists moral intentions, means ruining their craft.
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.
Viewed from the summit of reason, all life looks like a malignant disease and the world like a madhouse.
We cannot shape our children according to our ideas, We must keep and love them as God gave them to us.
All truly wise thoughts have been thoughts already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience.
The artist alone sees spirits. But after he has told of their appearing to him, everybody sees them. Art
In art the best is good enough. Art
Great thoughts and a pure heart, that is what we should ask from God.
Error is acceptable as long as we are young; but one must not drag it along into old age.
Everything in the world may be endured except continued prosperity
Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words.
Enjoy what thou has inherited from thy sires if thou wouldn't really possess it. What we employ and use is never an oppressive burden; what the moment brings forth, that only can it profit by.
Without haste, but without rest.
Personality is everything in art and poetry. Art
Divide and rule, a sound motto. Unite and lead, a better one
