Quotes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The old lose one of the greatest privileges of man, for they are no longer judged by their contemporaries.

There speaks the man of truly noble ways, Who will not listen to the words of praise. In modesty averse, and with deaf ears, He acts as though the others were his peers.

Self-knowledge comes from knowing other men.

Who longs in solitude to live, Ah! soon his wish will gain: Men hope and love, men get and give, and leave him to his pain.

Men are much more apt to agree in what they do than in what they think.

Such is the frailty of man that even where he makes the truest and most forcible impression in the memory, in the heart of his beloved, there also he must perish.

The most fortunate of men, Be he a king or commoner, is he Whose welfare is assured in his own home.

Each ten years of a man's life has its own fortunes, its own hopes, its own desires.

The art of governing is a great metier, requiring the whole man, and it is therefore not well for a ruler to have too strong tendencies for other affairs.

No two men see the world exactly alike, and different temperaments will apply in different ways a principle that they both acknowledge.

A man's shortcomings are taken from his epoch; his virtues and greatness belong to himself.

Old age is never honored among us, but only indulged, as childhood is; and old men lose one of the most precious rights of man,--that of being judged by their peers.

The world cannot do without great men, but great men are very troublesome to the world.

Mysteries are not necessarily miracles.

Certain defects are necessary for the existence of individuality.

To hard necessity ones will and fancy must conform.

One must ask children and birds how cherries and strawberries taste.

Modern poets mix much water with their ink.

Do not give in too much to feelings. A overly sensitive heart is an unhappy possession on this shaky earth.

The eternal feminine draws us on high.

If thou wouldst hear what seemly is and fit, inquire of noble woman; they can tell, who in life's common usage hold their place by graceful deed and aptly chosen word.

Manners form the great charm of women.

That which is eternal in Woman lifts us above.

The Woman-Soul leadeth us upward and on!