Quotes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

For a brave man deserves a well-endowed girl. [Ger., Denn ein wackerer Mann verdient ein begutertes Madchen.]

What man does not know, Or has not thought of, Wanders in the night Through the labyrinth of the mind.

A state of true and universal tolerance is best ensured by leaving alone the peculiarities of men and peoples.

The important thing is not to know more than all men, but to know more at each moment than any particular man.

The soul of man is like to water; from Heaven it cometh, to Heaven it riseth And then returning to earth, forever alternating.

Man cannot persist long in a conscious state, he must throw himself back into the unconscious, for his root lives there.

Reasonable men are the best dictionaries of conversation.

The history of a man is in his character.

Noble be man, Helpful and good! For that alone Sets him apart From every other creature On earth.

Wood burns because it has the proper stuff in it; and a man becomes famous because he has the proper stuff in him.

When Nature begins to reveal her open secret to a man, he feels an irresistible longing for her worthiest interpreter, Art.

A man must cling to the belief that the incomprehensible is comprehensible; otherwise he would not try to fathom it.

Wind is the loving Wooer of waters; Wind blends together Billows all-foaming. Spirit of man, Thou art like unto water! Fortune of man, Thou art like unto wind!

If I say to the moment: 'Stay now! You are so beautiful'!

A lot of people do not care about your money until nearly penniless. They also do so with time

Take life too seriously, and what is it worth? If the morning wake us to no new joys, if the evening bring us not the hope of new pleasure, is it worthwhile to dress and undress?

The mind is found most acute and most uneasy in the morning. Uneasiness is, indeed, a species of sagacity - a passive sagacity. Fools are never uneasy.

Wine rejoices the heart of man and joy is the mother of all virtues.

Too many parents make life hard for their children by trying, too zealously, to make it easy for them.

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.

What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.

The important thing in life is to have a great aim, and the determination to attain it.

Against criticism a man can neither protest nor defend himself; he must act in spite of it, and then it will gradually yield to him.

Doubt can only be removed by action.