Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes

To rule is easy, to govern difficult.

It is not doing the thing we like to do, but liking the thing we have to do, that makes life blessed.

Who is the wisest man? He who neither knows or wishes for anything else than what happens.

Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.

Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at.

Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us something beyond our wishes.

Be above it! Make the world serve your purpose, but do not serve it.

Mysteries are not necessarily miracles.

The man with insight enough to admit his limitations comes nearest to perfection.

Love and desire are the spirit's wings to great deeds.

Error is acceptable as long as we are young; but one must not drag it along into old age.

The formation of one's character ought to be everyone's chief aim.

There is nothing in the world more shameful than establishing one's self on lies and fables.

Love can do much, but duty more.

To appreciate the noble is a gain which can never be torn from us.

Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image.

It is in self-limitation that a master first shows himself.

The credit of advancing science has always been due to individuals and never to the age.

The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone.

Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.

Fresh activity is the only means of overcoming adversity.

Nothing is more terrible than to see ignorance in action.

Every person above the ordinary has a certain mission that they are called to fulfill.

Which government is the best? The one that teaches us to govern ourselves.

Whoever wishes to keep a secret must hide the fact that he possesses one.

This is the highest wisdom that I own; freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew.

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

All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green.

Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.

The hardest thing to see is what is in front of your eyes.

We always have time enough, if we will but use it aright.

Beauty is everywhere a welcome guest.

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

Ignorant men raise questions that wise men answered a thousand years ago.

Girls we love for what they are; young men for what they promise to be.

We will burn that bridge when we come to it.

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

First and last, what is demanded of genius is love of truth.

There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at.

An unused life is an early death.

Self-knowledge comes from knowing other men.

The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become.

Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life.

Character develops itself in the stream of life.

Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them.

We cannot fashion our children after our desires, we must have them and love them as God has given them to us.

If I love you, what business is it of yours?

Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.

Personality is everything in art and poetry.