Quotes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The Eternal Feminine draws us on.

Knowst thou the land where the lemon trees bloom,Where the gold orange glows in the deep thicket's gloom,Where a wind ever soft from the blue heaven blows,And the groves are of laurel and myrtle and rose?

Who wants to understand the poemMust go to the land of poetry;Who wishes to understand the poetMust go to the poet's land.

For I have been a man, and that means to have been a fighter.

Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live.

Do you wish to roam farther and farther?See! The Good lies so near.Only learn to seize good fortune,For good fortune's always here.

Who strives always to the utmost,For him there is salvation.

Man errs as long as he strives.

And here, poor fool! with all my loreI stand! no wiser than before.

Piety is not a goal but a means to attain through the purest peace of mind the highest culture.

Three things are to be looked to in a building: that it stand on the right spot; that it be securely founded; that it be successfully executed.

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

Who ne'er his bread in sorrow ate,Who ne'er the mournful midnight hoursWeeping upon his bed has sate,He knows you not, ye Heavenly Powers.

Individuality of expression is the beginning and end of all art.

In limitations he first shows himself the master,And the law can only bring us freedom.

Two souls alas! dwell in my breast.

Our destiny often looks like a fruit-tree in winter. Who would think from its pitiable aspect that those rigid boughs, those rough twigs could next spring again be green, bloom, and even bear fruit? Yet we hope it, we know it.

Instruction does much, but encouragement everything.

Great thoughts and a pure heart, that is what we should ask from God.

The spirits that I summoned upI now can't rid myself of.

I sing as the bird singsThat lives in the boughs.

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

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

The mediator of the inexpressible is the work of art.