"No prudent antagonist thinks light of his adversaries."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on enemies
5 fans of this quote   

"He who enjoys doing and enjoys what he has done is happy."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on joy
5 fans of this quote   

"If you modestly enjoy your fame you are not unworthy to rank with the holy."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on fame   

"Certain defects are necessary for the existence of individuality."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on faults
8 fans of this quote   

"Do not give in too much to feelings. A overly sensitive heart is an unhappy possession on this shaky earth."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on feelings
15 fans of this quote   

"Look closely at those who patronize you. Half are unfeeling, half untaught."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on flattery
5 fans of this quote   

"It seems to never occur to fools that merit and good fortune are closely united."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on fools and foolishness   

"If a good person does you wrong, act as though you had not noticed it. They will make note of this and not remain in your debt long."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on forgiveness
4 fans of this quote   

"Only law can give us freedom."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on freedom
5 fans of this quote   

"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."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on freedom   

"The first and last thing required of genius is, love of the truth."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on genius
8 fans of this quote   

"The greatest genius will never be worth much if he pretends to draw exclusively from his own resources."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on genius
6 fans of this quote   

"Not the maker of plans and promises, but rather the one who offers faithful service in small matters. This is the person who is most likely to achieve what is good and lasting."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on achievement
31 fans of this quote   

"There is nothing so terrible as activity without insight."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on goals
3 fans of this quote   

"Difficulties increase the nearer we approach the goal."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on goals
3 fans of this quote   

"The best government is that which teaches us to govern ourselves."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on government
4 fans of this quote   

"Progress has not followed a straight ascending line, but a spiral with rhythms of progress and retrogression, of evolution and dissolution."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on growth
4 fans of this quote   

"The phrases that men hear or repeat continually, end by becoming convictions and ossify the organs of intelligence."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on habit   

"The man who is born with a talent which he was meant to use finds his greatest happiness in using it."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on happiness   

"The highest happiness of man is to have probed what is knowable and quietly to revere what is unknowable."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on happiness
4 fans of this quote   

"Happiness is a ball after which we run wherever it rolls, and we push it with our feet when it stops."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on happiness   

"Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on health
4 fans of this quote   

"He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on home
3 fans of this quote   

"Where is the man who has the strength to be true, and to show himself as he is?"

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on honesty
5 fans of this quote   

This quotation can be viewed in the context of a book

"In all things it is better to hope than to despair."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on hope
16 fans of this quote   

"One that does not think to highly of himself is more than he thinks."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on humility
7 fans of this quote   

"Whenever I hear people talking about liberal ideas, I am always astounded that men should love to fool themselves with empty sounds. An idea should never be liberal; it must be vigorous, positive, and without loose ends so that it may fulfill its divine mission and be productive. The proper place for liberality is in the realm of the emotions."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on ideas
4 fans of this quote   

"Nothing is more terrible than to see ignorance in action."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on ignorance
11 fans of this quote   

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on importance
5 fans of this quote   

"The intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous, the sensible man hardly anything."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on intelligence and intellectuals
3 fans of this quote   

"A judge who cannot punish, in the end associates themselves with the criminal."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on justice   

"The greater the knowledge, the greater the doubt."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on knowledge
11 fans of this quote   

"Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on kindness
4 fans of this quote   

This quotation can be viewed in the context of a book

"It is not length of life, but depth of life."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on life
22 fans of this quote   

"So little done, so much to do."

Rhodes, Cecil on death
3 fans of this quote   

"You shall judge a man by his foes as well as by his friends."

Conrad, Joseph on enemies
6 fans of this quote   

"A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself; and a mean man, by one lower than himself. The one produces aspiration; the other ambition, which is the way in which a vulgar man aspires."

Conrad, Joseph on ambition
4 fans of this quote   

"Gossip is what no one claims to like, but everybody enjoys."

Conrad, Joseph on gossip
5 fans of this quote   

"As to honor -- you know -- it's a very fine mediaeval inheritance which women never got hold of. It wasn't theirs."

Conrad, Joseph on honor   

"It is respectable to have no illusions, and safe, and profitable and dull."

Conrad, Joseph on illusion
4 fans of this quote