Quotes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Sameness leaves us in peace but it is contradiction that makes us productive.

Miracle is the pet child of faith.

Love does not rule; but it trains, and that is more.

I have, alas! Philosophy, Medicine, Jurisprudence too, And to my cost Theology, With ardent labor, studied through. And here I stand, with all my lore, Poor fool, no wiser than before.

Ohne Hast, aber ohne Rast. - Without haste, but without rest.

Everyone believes in his youth that the world really began with him, and that all merely exists for his sake.

Man errs as long as he strives.

One lives but once in the world.

Personality is everything in art and poetry.

The true poet is called to take in the splendor of the world and for that reason will always be inclined to praise rather than tofind fault.

Modern poets add a lot of water to their ink.

Give shape, artist! don't talk! Your poem be but a breath.

What makes poetry? A full heart, brimful of one noble passion.

Poetry is the universal possession of mankind, revealing itself everywhere, and at all times, in hundreds and hundreds of men.

True art can only spring from the intimate linking of the serious and the playful.

Des Menschen Kraft, im Dichter offenbartThe human power is revealed by poetIl potere dell'umanità si rivela nel poeta

Patriotism corrupts history.

Our modern wars make many unhappy while they last and none happy when they are over.

I hate all bungling as I do sin, but particularly bungling in politics, which leads to the misery and ruin of many thousands and millions of people.

In politics people throw themselves, as on a sickbed, from one side to the other in the belief they will lie more comfortably.

In politics as on a sickbed men toss from side to side in hope of lying more comfortably.

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.

A person hears only what they understand.

People who think honestly and deeply have a hostile attitude towards the public.