Quotes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Mind and Nature – don't speak to Christians so. That's why men burn atheists, below, Such speech is dangerous, all right, Nature is sin, and Mind's the devil,

We are never content with portraits of people we know. For that reason I have always felt sorry for portrait painters. We rarely ask the impossible of anyone, but of them we do. They are required to get everybody's relationship with the subject, everybody's affection or dislike, into the picture; and not merely represent their own view of a person but what everybody else's might be too.

That treasure's been handled often, you forget, And the gilding's mostly rubbed away.

Every day we hear a little melody,reading a beautiful poem, see a fine painting and,If possible, say the words.

Denn alle Kraft dringt vorwärts in die Weite, Zu leben und zu wirken hier und dort; Dagegen engt und hemmt von jeder Seite Der Strom der Welt und reisst uns mit sich fort: In diesem innern Sturm und äussern Streite Vernimmt der Geist ein schwer verstanden Wort: Von der Gewalt, die alle Wesen bindet, Befreit der Mensch sich, der sich überwindet.

To wisdom's final fruit, profoundly true: Of freedom and of life he only is deserving Who every cay must conquer them anew. Thus here, by danger girt, the active day Of childhood, manhood, age will pass away.

No es posible salvarte, desgraciado! No; bien veo que nada puede salvarnos.

nada me faz perder tanto as estribeiras como ver alguém me espicaçando com lugares-comuns dos mais insignificantes quando estou falando do fundo de meu coração.

Ho tante cose in me, e ciò che sento per lei divora tutto; ho tante cose, e senza di lei non ho più nulla.

Dove c'è molta luce, l'ombra è più nera...

To wisdom's final fruit, profoundly true: Of freedom and of life he only is deserving Who every day must conquer them anew. Thus here, by danger girt, the active day Of childhood, manhood, age will pass away.

Memory extends as far as our self-interest.

Only air and light and the love of friends! Let no man lose heart who still has these.

Still, here goes! Whatever may befall, My hope is in your Nothing to find All.

Amigo mío: ¿necesitaré decírtelo, a ti que has sufrido más de una vez viéndome pasar de la tristeza a la alegría más alborotadora, y de una dulce melancolía a la pasión más violenta? Trato a este pobre corazón como a un niño enfermo, le concedo cuanto me pide. No se lo cuentes a nadie, que no faltaría quien dijese que con ello cometo un crimen

MEPHISTO. Honor to you, you reverend peak, With your great forests of stout oak, Whose umbrage Luna's brightest light Strives in vain to penetrate! —But in those bushes there I see A spark glowing modestly. How luckily things work out, yes, It's him, it's him, Homunculus! 8080 And where have you been, minikin?

I prefer an injurious truth to a useful error. Truth heals any pain it may inflict on us.

What is destructible Is but a parable; What fails ineluctably, The undeclarable, Here it was seen, Here it was action; The Eternal-Feminine Lures to perfection.

How many new discoveries does not a person make when on some high point he ascends but a single story higher.

Y me río de mi propio corazón… y le cumplo sus caprichos.

I pity those who make much ado about the transitory nature of all things and are lost in the contemplation of earthly vanity: are we not here to make the transitory permanent? This we can do only if we know how to value both.

No es más bien [el mal humor] un despecho oculto, hijo de nuestra pequeñez; un descontento de nosotros mismos, mezclado siempre con alguna envidia, excitada por alguna loca vanidad? Vemos gente feliz que no nos debe su felicidad, y esto nos es insoportable.

The rhythm," said Goethe, "is an unconscious result of the poetic mood. If one should stop to consider it mechanically, when about to write a poem, one would become bewildered and accomplish nothing of real poetical value."—Ibid.

In the end, you are – what you are. Set your hair in a thousand curlicues Place your feet in yard-high shoes, You'll remain forever, what you are.