Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Germany
28 Aug 1749 // 22 Mar 1832
Poet / Novelist / Humanist / Scientist / Philosopher

Quotes

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Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world
There is nothing in the world more shameful than establishing one's self on lies and fables
The world remains ever the same
The unnatural, that too is natural
The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it
The people who are absent are the ideal; those who are present seem to be quite commonplace
The most happy man is he who knows how to bring into relation the end and beginning of his life
The mediator of the inexpressible is the work of art
The man with insight enough to admit his limitations comes nearest to perfection
The man who occupies the first place seldom plays the principal part
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays