Quotes by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Age merely shows what children we remain."

"It is after all the greatest art to limit and isolate oneself."

"Beauty is a manifestation of secret natural laws, which otherwise would have been hidden from us forever."

"The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone."

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

"Death is a commingling of eternity with time; in the death of a good man, eternity is seen looking through time."

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

"It is the strange fate of man, that even in the greatest of evils the fear of the worst continues to haunt him."

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

"He only earns his freedom and his life Who takes them every day by storm."

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

"If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise."

"Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words."

"The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it."

"Few people have the imagination for reality."

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

"Nothing is more fearful than imagination without taste."

"Doubt grows with knowledge."

"All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own."

"We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases."

"Character develops itself in the stream of life."

"What is important in life is life, and not the result of life."

"To witness two lovers is a spectacle for the gods."

"Love does not dominate; it cultivates."

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

"Many people take no care of their money till they come nearly to the end of it, and others do just the same with their time."

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do."

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home."

"Correction does much, but encouragement does more."

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

"He who possesses art and science has religion; he who does not possess them, needs religion."

"Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing."

"No one would talk much in society if they knew how often they misunderstood others."

"One can be instructed in society, one is inspired only in solitude."

"Only by joy and sorrow does a person know anything about themselves and their destiny. They learn what to do and what to avoid."