Quotes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

There are men who never err, because they never propose anything rational.

A good man, through obscurest aspirations Has still an instinct of the one true way.

While man's desires and aspirations stir he cannot choose but err.

The greatest act of faith takes place when a man finally decides that he is not God.

Men are so constituted that every one undertakes what he sees another successful in, whether he has aptitude for it or not.

Yet he who grasps the moment's gift, He is the proper man.

Man believes himself always greater than he is, and is esteemed less than he is worth.

Man is a simple being, and however rich, varied, and unfathomable he may be, the cycle of his situations is soon run through.

Neither art thou the man to catch the fiend and hold him! [Ger., Du bist noch nicht der Mann den Teufel festzuhalten.

To the person with a firm purpose all men and things are servants.

Man's highest merit always is, as much as possible, to rule external circumstances and as little as possible to let himself be ruled by them.

How many years must a man do nothing, before he can at all know what is to be done and how to do it!

Who is the happiest man? He who is alive to the merit of others, and can rejoice in their enjoyment as if it were his own.

The man who acts never has any conscience; no one has any conscience but the man who thinks

Energy will do anything that can be done in the world; and no talents, no circumstances, no opportunities will make a two-legged animal a man without it.

The master proves himselin recognizing his limitations.

A resolution that is communicated is no longer within thy power; thy attentions become now the plaything of chance; he who would have his commands certainly carried out must take man by surprise.

A man is really alive only when he delights in the good-will of others.

To measure up to all that is demanded of him, a man must overestimate his capacities

Shakespeare is a great psychologist, and whatever can be known of the heart of man may be found in his plays.

If a man knows where to get good advice, it is as though he could supply it himself.

The most happy man is he who knows how to bring into relation the end and beginning of his life.

The happiest man is the one who finds happiness at home.

Animals, we have been told, are taught by their organs. Yes, I would add, and so are men, but men have this further advantage that they can also teach their organs in return.