Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 - 22 March 1832), commonly known as "Goethe", was a German poet, novelist, philosopher, and scientist who is considered one of the giants of the literary world. In addition, aside from being lawyer and known also as a dramatist, humanist, theorist, and painter, he is also one of few individuals considered to have been a polymath. For ten years, he was chief minister of state for the duchy of Weimar. In 1782 he was ennobled as 'von Goethe'. In his 1809 masterpiece Elective Affinities, he became one of the first to speculate on the nature of interpersonal chemistry. Goethe was one of the key figures of German literature and the movement of Weimar Classicism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries; this movement coincides with Enlightenment, Sentimentality ("Empfindsamkeit"), Sturm und Drang, and Romanticism. The author of Faust and Theory of Colours, he influenced Darwin with his focus on plant morphology. Goethe's influence spread across Europe, and for the next century his works were a primary source of inspiration in music, drama, poetry, and philosophy. He is widely considered to be one of the most important thinkers in Western culture.
316 Quotes (Page 4 of 4)
This is the highest wisdom that I own; freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew.
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Wisdom is found only in truth.
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
We are never further from what we wish than when we believe that we have what we wished for.
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
The Woman-Soul leadeth us upward and on!
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Be generous with kindly words, especially about those who are absent.
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Every spoken word arouses our self-will.
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
When ideas fail, words come in very handy.
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers and cities; but to know someone who thinks and feels with us, and who, though distant is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
The world remains ever the same.
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
If any man wishes to write a clear style, let him first be clear in his thoughts.
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Every author in some degree portrays himself in his works, even if it be against his will.
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
He who does not expect a million readers should not write a line.
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Great endowments often announce themselves in youth in the form of singularity and awkwardness.
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
All providence
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Marriage is the beginning and the end of all culture. It makes the savage mild; and the most cultivated has no better opportunity for displaying his gentleness. Indissoluble it must be, because it brings so much happiness that what small exceptional unhappiness it may bring counts for nothing in the balance.
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
There can never be any adequate ground for separation. The condition of man is pitched so high in its joys and in its sorrows, that the sum which two married people owe to each other defies calculation. It is an infinite debt, which can only be discharged through all eternity.
— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe