Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a writer, artist, and politician. He work includes a variety of dramas, novels, scientific fragments, letters and drawings. His first novel The Sorrows of Young Werther was a huge succcess.
“If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him 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
“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“If I love you, what business is it of yours?”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust: First Part
“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Collected Works
“If you've never eaten while crying you don t know what life tastes like.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“To think is easy. To act is hard. But the hardest thing in the world is to act in accordance with your thinking.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Know thyself? If I knew myself, I'd run away.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“By seeking and blundering we learn.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Elective Affinities
“A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust: First Part
“Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“A person hears only what they understand.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Every day one should at least hear one little song, read one good poem, see one fine painting and -- if at all possible -- speak a few sensible words.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Nine requisites for contented living:
Health enough to make work a pleasure.
Wealth enough to support your needs.
Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them.
Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them.
Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished.
Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor.
Love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others.
Faith enough to make real the things of God.
Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
