Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe Quotes - Page 3

He who cannot draw on three thousand years is living from hand to mouth.

I am not omniscient, but I know a lot.

By seeking and blundering we learn.

Instruction does much, but encouragement everything."

(Letter to A.F. Oeser, Nov. 9, 1768)

The Church has an excellent appetite.
She has swallowed whole countries and the question
Has never risen of indigestion.
Only the Church . . . can take
Ill-gotten goods without stomach-ache!

If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.

I know of enough cases in which a close and, as it seemed, indissoluble relationship was annulled by the casual arrival of a third party, and one of the pair, previously joined so beautifully, driven out into empty space.

When scholars study a thing, they strive
To kill it first, if its alive;
Then they have the parts and they’ve lost the whole
For the link that’s missing was the living soul.

Let this little book be thy friend, if, owing to fortune or through thine own fault, thou canst not find a dearer companion.

What you feed in yourself that grows.

Was Du in Dir nährst, das wächst.

Donde no hay mujeres no existen los buenos modales

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free

Wenn die Blattläuse auf den Rosenzweigen sitzen und sich hübsch dick und grün gesogen haben, dann kommen die Ameisen und saugen ihnen den filtrierten Saft aus den Leibern. Und so geht's weiter, und wir haben's so weit gebracht, daß oben immer an einem Tage mehr verzehrt wird, als unten in einem beigebracht werden kann.

Divide and rule, the politician cries;
Unite and lead, is watchword of the wise.

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.

Beauty is a primeval phenomenon. It never makes an appearance itself, but is a visible reflection in a thousand different utterances of the creative mind. It is as various as nature herself.

Colors are light's suffering and joy

The town itself is disagreeable; but then, all around, you find an inexpressible beauty of nature.

It's in the anomalies that nature reveals its secrets.