2,348 Quotes by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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

I have so much in me, and the feeling for her absorbs it all; I have so much, and without her it all comes to nothing.

Nothing can be compared to the new life that the discovery of another country provides for a thoughtful person. Although I am still the same I believe to have changed to the bones.

A dim vastness is spread before our souls; the perceptions of our mind are as obscure as those of our vision... But alas! when we have attained our object, when the distant 'there' becomes the present 'here,' all is changed; we are as poor and circumscribed as ever, and our souls still languish for unattainable happiness.

One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.

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.

You can’t, if you can’t feel it, if it neverRises from the soul, and swaysThe heart of every single hearer,With deepest power, in simple ways.You’ll sit forever, gluing things together,Cooking up a stew from other’s scraps,Blowing on a miserable fire,Made from your heap of dying ash.Let apes and children praise your art,If their admiration’s to your taste,But you’ll never speak from heart to heart,Unless it rises up from your heart’s space.

Every day one should at least hear one little song, read one good poem, see one fine painting and -- if at all possible -- speak a few sensible words.

Wehe dem, der zusehen und sagen könnte: die Törin!Hätte sie gewartet, hätte sie die Zeit wirken lassen, die Verzweiflung würde sich schon gelegt, es würde sich schon ein anderer sie zu trösten vorgefunden haben. - Das ist eben, als wenn einer sagte: der Tor, stirbt am Fieber! Hätte er gewartet, bis seine Kräfte sich erholt, seine Säfte sich verbessert, der Tumult seines Blutes sich gelegt hätten: alles wäre gut gegangen, und er lebte bis auf den heutigen Tag!