Famous quotes by »

Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, critic, and amateur artist.

Update this biography »
Complete biography of Goethe »

0 fans

Sort by:PopularityA - Z

It is not enough to know; we must apply what we know. It is not enough to will; we must also act.

– Goethe

Rate it:

Tolerance comes of age. I see no fault committed that I myself could not have committed at some time or other.

– Goethe

Rate it:

We rather confess our moral errors, faults, and crimes than our ignorance.

– Goethe

Rate it:

Behaviour is a mirror in which every one shows his image.

– Goethe

Rate it:

A day of fortune is like a harvest-day, we must be busy when the corn is ripe.

– Goethe

Rate it:

An absent friend gives us friendly company when we are well assured of his happiness.

– Goethe

Rate it:

Certain books seem to be written, not that we might learn from them, but in order that we might see how much the author knows.

– Goethe

Rate it:

Every bird has its decoy, and every man is led and misled in his own peculiar way.

– Goethe

Rate it:

Happy the man who early learns the difference between his wishes and his powers.

– Goethe

Rate it:

He who does not think too much of himself is much more esteemed than he imagines.

– Goethe

Rate it:

How can we learn to know ourselves? By reflection, never, but by our actions. Attempt to do your duty, and you will immediately find what is in you.

– Goethe

Rate it:

I have observed that as long as a man lives and exerts himself he can always find food and raiment, though, it may be, not of the choicest description.

– Goethe

Rate it:

I put no account on him who esteems himself just as the popular breath may chance to raise him.

– Goethe

Rate it:

In all things, to serve from the lowest station upwards is necessary. To restrict yourself to a trade is best. For the narrow mind, whatever he attempts is still a trade; for the higher, an art; and the highest in doing one thing does all, or, to speak less paradoxically, in the one thing which he does rightly he sees the likeness of all that is done rightly.

– Goethe

Rate it:

Most men, even the most accomplished, are of limited faculties; every one sets a value on certain qualities in himself and others: these alone he is willing to favour, these alone will he have cultivated.

– Goethe

Rate it:

No man learns to know his inmost nature by introspection, for he rates himself sometimes too low, and often too high, by his own measurement. Man knows himself only by comparing himself with other men; it is life that touches his genuine worth.

– Goethe

Rate it:

Real and solid happiness springs from moderation.

– Goethe

Rate it:

Talents are best nurtured in solitude; character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.

– Goethe

Rate it:

The greatest difficulties lie where we are not looking for them.

– Goethe

Rate it:

The loss of a much-prized treasure is only half felt when we have not regarded its tenure as secure.

– Goethe

Rate it:

The old lose one of the greatest privileges of man, for they are no longer judged by their contemporaries.

– Goethe

Rate it:

There is nothing more pitiable in the world than an irresolute man vacillating between two feelings, who would willingly unite the two, and who does not perceive that nothing can unite them.

– Goethe

Rate it:

We are accustomed to see men deride what they do not understand, and snarl at the good and beautiful because it lies beyond their sympathies.

– Goethe

Rate it:

We blame equally him who is too proud to put a proper value on his own merit and him who prizes too highly his spurious worth.

– Goethe

Rate it:

We cannot too soon convince ourselves how easily we may be dispensed with in the world. What important personages we imagine ourselves to be! We think that we alone are the life of the circle in which we move; in our absence, we fancy that life, existence, breath will come to a general pause, and, alas, the gap which we leave is scarcely perceptible, so quickly is it filled again; nay, it is often the place, if not of something better, at least for something more agreeable.

– Goethe

Rate it:

We in reality only know when we doubt a little. With knowledge comes doubt.

– Goethe

Rate it:

We should know mankind better if we were not so anxious to resemble one another.

– Goethe

Rate it:

Share your thoughts on Goethe's quotes with the community:

0 Comments

Notify me of new comments via email.

Quote of the Day Today's Quote | Archive

Would you like us to send you a FREE inspiring quote delivered to your inbox daily?

Citation

Use the citation below to add this author page to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"Goethe Quotes." Quotes.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.quotes.net/authors/Goethe+Quotes>.

Missing a quote of Goethe?

Know another good quote of Goethe? Don't keep it to yourself!

The Web's Largest Resource for

Famous Quotes & Sayings

A Member Of The STANDS4 Network

Our favorite collection of

Famous Authors

Carl Gustav Jung
1875 - 1961
Sigmund Freud
1856 - 1939
Golda Meir
1898 - 1978
Edgar Allan Poe
1809 - 1849
Confucius
551 BC - 479 BC
Martin Luther King, Jr.
1929 - 1968
Mother Teresa
1910 - 1997

Browse Quotes.net

#A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Quiz

Are you a quotes master?

Who said: " Sometimes we need to let go of our pride, and just do what others ask of us."

A Shmi Skywalker

B Padme Amidala

C Anakin Skywalker

D Spider-man