Poet · German · 1749 – 1832 · 200 quotes
If your treat an individual... as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Poet · German · 1749 – 1832
What is important in life is life, and not the result of life.
It is after all the greatest art to limit and isolate oneself.
Character develops itself in the stream of life.
If you modestly enjoy your fame you are not unworthy to rank with the holy.
A man's manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait.
Whoever wishes to keep a secret must hide the fact that he possesses one.
It is in self-limitation that a master first shows himself.
Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
The hardest thing to see is what is in front of your eyes.
Personality is everything in art and poetry.
Self-knowledge comes from knowing other men.
What by a straight path cannot be reached by crooked ways is never won.
A noble person attracts noble people, and knows how to hold on to them.
Upon the creatures we have made, we are, ourselves, at last, dependent.
Nothing is more terrible than to see ignorance in action.
As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.
We always have time enough, if we will but use it aright.
He who enjoys doing and enjoys what he has done is happy.
Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing.
A really great talent finds its happiness in execution.
Age merely shows what children we remain.
One always has time enough, if one will apply it well.
He is dead in this world who has no belief in another.
Every spoken word arouses our self-will.
To appreciate the noble is a gain which can never be torn from us.
Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.
Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live.
Certain defects are necessary for the existence of individuality.
What is my life if I am no longer useful to others.
A person places themselves on a level with the ones they praise.
Correction does much, but encouragement does more.
The human mind will not be confined to any limits.
Every step of life shows much caution is required.
The right man is the one who seizes the moment.
Trust yourself, then you will know how to live.
Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image.
Few people have the imagination for reality.
There is nothing so terrible as activity without insight.
Fresh activity is the only means of overcoming adversity.
Nothing is to be rated higher than the value of the day.
Nothing is more fearful than imagination without taste.
Life is the childhood of our immortality.
Passions are vices or virtues to their highest powers.
What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.
Everybody wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow.
Whatever you cannot understand, you cannot possess.
To hard necessity ones will and fancy must conform.
