Quotes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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

Content and peace of mind are valuable things: I could wish, my dear friend, that these precious jewels were less transitory.

Ayr?ca yüre?imi de?il, akl?m? ve yeteneklerimi be?eniyor, oysa her ?eyin kayna?? yürektir: tüm gücün, tüm mutlulu?un, tüm kederin. Ah, benim bildiklerimi herkes bilebilir - ama yüre?imdir yaln?zca bana ait olan.

He who does not know foreign languages does not know anything about his own.

Duas almas, oh! moram dentro do meu peito, E aí lutam por um indivisível reino; Uma aspira pela terra, com vontade apaixonada Às íntimas entranhas ainda está ligada. Acima das névoas, a outro aspira, de certeza, Com ardor sagrado por esferas onde reine a pureza

This is another one of those creatures whom, like the pelican, I have fed with the blood of my own heart... There were special circumstances close at hand, urgent, troubling me, and they resulted in the state of mind that produced Werther. I had lived, loved, and suffered much... That's what it was.

I'll see the sprouts in the morning when you wake up from sleep, and with glee look at the way the bright sun, I'll see it...And then I have no more desire for others the whole day. Everything, everything is covered with these expectations.

Human nature," I continued, "has its limitations. It can bear joy and suffering, and pain to a certain degree, but perishes when this point is passed. Here there can therefore be no question of whether a man is strong or weak, but of whether he can endure his suffering, be it moral or physical. And I find it just as astonishing to say that a man who takes his own life is a coward, as it would be improper to call a man a coward who dies of a pernicious fever.

Por qué será que lo que colma de felicidad al hombre es al mismo tiempo la fuente de sus desgracias?

In this world one is seldom reduced to make a selection between two alternatives. There are as many varieties of conduct and opinion as there are turns of feature between an aquiline nose and a flat one.

Blue gives us an impression of cold, and thus, again, reminds us of shade. We have before spoken of its affinity with black.

Whatever liberates our spirit without giving us mastery over ourselves is destructive.

He [Muhammed] is a prophet and not a poet and therefore his Koran is to be seen as a divine law and not as a book of a human being, made for education or entertainment.

Man is too prone, at best, to seek the way that's easy, He soon grows fond of unconditioned rest;

Da fing mein Leben an, als ich dich liebte.

The hands want to see, the eyes want to caress.

When one is polite in German, one lies.

And with a measured haste propel Yourselves from heaven through the world to hell.

All our most honest toil succeeds only in unconscious moments. For how would the rose blossom if it were aware of the splendor of the sun!

Doar ce creeaza clipa, se dovedeste bun.

Yes, one is on the right track when one does not know what one is thinking when one is thinking; everything is handed to one, as it were.

Wagner: Ich hab es öfters rühmen hören, Ein Komödiant könnt einen Pfarrer lehren. Faust: Ja, wenn der Pfarrer ein Komödiant ist; Wie das denn wohl zuzeiten kommen mag.

It is a great error to take oneself for more than one is, or for less than one is worth.

Ah, lo que yo sé, lo puede saber cualquiera: mi corazón lo tengo yo solamente.