Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, port, scientist, novelist and statesman produced written work, which include lyric poetry, dramas, memoir and autobiography and literary criticism.
This German literary figure is known for his two-part poetic drama “Faust“.
Napolean Bonaparte was one of the many avid readers of his works.
You should read read and reflect the wisdom found in his trove of profound quotes and maxims.
Verified Johann Wolfgang von Goethe quotes
Below here I would like to share with you my personal selection of fully verified quotations from Goethe’s plays, books and other reliable sources.
“Nothing is more frightful than imagination without taste.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Es ist nichts fürchterlicher als Einbildungskraft ohne Geschmack.” (German)
()
(The quote is also found in: )
(The quote in German is found .)
“…there is no more terrible sight than ignorance in action.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Es ist nichts schrecklicher als eine tätige Unwissenheit.” (German)
()
(The quote is also found in: )
(The quote in German is found .)
“Perfection is the measure of heaven, and the wish to be perfect the measure of man.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Vollkommenheit ist die Norm des Himmels, Vollkommenes wollen die Norm des Menschen” (German)
()
(The quote is also found in: )
(The quote in German is found .)
“…seeking and blundering are good, for it is by seeking and blundering that we learn.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“…ist das Suchen und Irren gut, denn durch Suchen und Irren lernt man.” (German)
()
(The quote is also found in: Conversations with Goethe By Johann Peter Eckermann By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johann Peter Eckermann, Translated By John Oxenford, Edited By J. K. Moorhead, Ravenio Books, 2014, 1825, Sunday, May 1)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“Nothing is more highly to be prized than the value of each day.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Nichts ist höher zu schätzen als der Werth des Tages.” (German)
(The quote is also found in: )
(The quote in German is found here.)
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Niemand ist mehr Sklave, als der sich fuer frei haelt, ohne es zu sein.” (German)
()
(The quote is also found here.)
(The quote in German is found here. and here.)
“A man is really alive only when he delights in the goodwill of others.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Man ist nur eigentlich lebendig, wenn man sich des Wohlwollens andrer freut.” (German)
()
(The quote is also found in: Maxims and Reflections By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Thomas Bailey Saunders, Library of Alexandria, 1893, Life And Character, 34)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“Soon as you in yourself confide, you know the way to live.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Sobald du dir vertraust, sobald weißt du zu leben.” (German)
(The quote in German can be found .)
“A useless life is but an earlier death.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Ein unnütz Leben ist ein früher Tod.” (German)
(The quote is also found here.)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“It is only when a man knows little, that he knows anything at all. With knowledge grows doubt.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Eigentlich weiß man nur, wenn man wenig weiß. Mit dem Wissen wächst der Zweifel.” (German)
(The quote is also found in: Maxims and Reflections By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Thomas Bailey Saunders, Enhanced Media Publishing, 2017, Life And Character, 178)
(The quote in German is found .)
“For as wife and man are plighted, And the better half the wife; So is night to day united, night’s the better half of life.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Wie das Weib dem Mann gegeben Als die schoenste Haelfte war, Ist die Nacht das halbe Leben, Und die schoenste Haelfte zwar.” (German)
(The quote is also found in: Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship and Travels, Volume 2 By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Thomas Carlyle, V. Scribner, Welford and Company, 1824, Book V, Ch. X, P. 32)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“A day of favour’s like a harvest-day.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Ein Tag der Gunst ist wie ein Tag der Ernte.” (German)
(The quote is also found here.)
(The quote in German is found .)
“Thoughts come back; beliefs persist; facts pass by never to return.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Die Gedanken kommen wieder, die Überzeugungen pflanzen sich fort; die Zustände gehen unwiederbringlich vorüber.” (German)
(The quote is also found in: Maxims and Reflections By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Thomas Bailey Saunders, Enhanced Media Publishing, 2017, 188)
(The quote in German is found .)
“Hope is the second soul of the unhappy.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Hoffnung ist die zweite Seele der Unglücklichen.” (German)
(The quote is also found in: Maxims and Reflections By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Thomas Bailey Saunders, Enhanced Media Publishing, 2017, Life And Character, 195, P. 19)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“…misunderstandings and neglect occasion more mischief in the world than even malice and wickedness.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Mißverständnisse und Trägheit vielleicht mehr Irrungen in der Welt machen als List und Bosheit.” (German)
(The Sorrows Of Young Werther By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Sir Walter Scott, Sir Theodore Martin, John Oxenford, Thomas Carlyle And Others, Francis Nicolls & Co., 1891, Book I, May 4)
(The quote is also found in: The Sorrows of Young Werther (illustrated) By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Thomas Garlyle And R.D. Boylan, Edited By Nathan Haskell Dole, Courier Corporation, 2012, Book I, May 4)
(The quote in German is found here.)
”A rainbow which lasts a quarter of an hour is looked at no more.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Einen Regenbogen, der eine Viertelstunde steht, sieht man nicht mehr an.” (German)
(The quote is also found in: )
(The quote in German is found here.)
“Truth is a torch, but a huge one, and so it is only with blinking eyes that we all of us try to get past it, in actual terror of being burnt.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Das Wahre ist eine Fackel, aber eine ungeheure deswegen suchen wir alle nur blinzend so daran vorbeizukommen, in Furcht sogar, uns zu verbrennen” (German)
(The quote is also found in: Maxims and Reflections By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Thomas Bailey Saunders, Enhanced Media Publishing, 2017, Life And Character, 120, P. 15)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Das Leben gehört den Lebenden, und wer lebt, muss auf Veränderungen vorbereitet sein.” (German)
(Conversations of German Refugees ; Wilhelm Meister’s Journeyman Years Or The Renunciants By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Jane K. Brown, Jan van Heurck, Krishna Winston, Edited By Jane K. Brown, Princeton University Press, 1995, Wilhelm Meister’s Journeyman Years Or The Renunciants, Book I, ch.2, The Lily Stalk. P. 111)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“Hatred is active displeasure, envy passive. We need not wonder that envy turns so soon to hatred.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Der Haß ist ein aktives Mißvergnügen, der Neid ein passives; deshalb darf man sich nicht wundern, wenn der Neid so schnell in Haß übergeht.” (German)
(The quote is also found in: Maxims and Reflections By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Thomas Bailey Saunders, Enhanced Media Publishing, 2017, Life And Character, 130, P. 15)
(The quote in German is found .)
“Difficulties increase the nearer we come to our aim.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Die Schwierigkeiten wachsen, je näher man dem Ziele kommt.” (German)
(The quote is also found in: Maxims and Reflections By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Thomas Bailey Saunders, Enhanced Media Publishing, 2017, Life And Character, 278, P. 25)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“The truest liberality is appreciation.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Die wahre Liberalität ist Anerkennung.” (German)
(The quote is also found in: Maxims and Reflections By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Thomas Bailey Saunders, Enhanced Media Publishing, 2017, Life And Character, 385, P. 32)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“Every word a man utters, provokes the opposite opinion.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Jedes ausgesprochene Wort erregt den Gegensinn.” (German)
(The quote is also found in: Elective Affinities: A Novel By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Holt & Williams, 1872, Ch. IV, From Ottilie’s Diary, P. 184)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“There is no use in reproving vulgarity, for it never changes.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Das Gemeine muß man nicht rügen; denn das bleibt sich ewig gleich.” (German)
(The quote is also found in: Maxims and Reflections By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Thomas Bailey Saunders, Enhanced Media Publishing, 2017, Life And Character, 222, P. 21)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“It is not the intelligent man who rules, but intelligence; not the wise man, but wisdom.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Der Verständige regiert nicht, aber der Verstand; nicht der Vernünftige, sondern die Vernunft.” (German)
()
(The quote is also found in: Maxims and Reflections By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Thomas Bailey Saunders, Enhanced Media Publishing, 2017, Life And Character, 322, P. 28)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“All the knowledge I possess every one else can acquire, but my heart is exclusively my own.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Ach, was ich weiß, kann jeder wissen – mein Herz habe ich allein.” (German)
()
(The quote is also found in: The Sorrows of Young Werther By Johann. Wolfgang Von Goethe, Translated By R. D. Boylan, Contributed By Nathen Haskell Dole, Simon & Schuster, 2012, Book II, May 9)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“One never goes further, than when one does not know whither one is going.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Man geht nie weiter, als wenn man nicht mehr weiß, wohin man geht.” (German)
(The quote is also found in: Goethe’s Letters To Zelter, With Extracts From Those Of Zelter To Goethe, Selected Translated And Annotated By Anna Swanwick, Sir Walter Scott, John Oxenford, George Bell & Sons, 1887, 70. Geothe To Zelter, Weimer, 3rd November, 1812, P. 94)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“A man is not deceived by others, he deceives himself.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Man wird nie betrogen, man betrügt sich selbst.” (German)
(The quote is also found in: Maxims and Reflections By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Thomas Bailey Saunders, Enhanced Media Publishing, 2017, Life And Character, 320, P. 28)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“Every man hears only what he understands.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Es hört doch jeder nur, was er versteht.” (German)
(The quote is also found in: Maxims and Reflections By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Thomas Bailey Saunders, Enhanced Media Publishing, 2017, Life And Character, 383, P. 32)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“Behavior is a mirror in which every one displays his own image.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Das Betragen ist ein Spiegel, in welchem jeder sein Bild zeigt.” (German)
(The quote is also found in: Goethe’s Elective Affinities By Johann Wolfgang von, Goethe, Contributed By Victoria Claflin Woodhull, D.W. Niles, 1872, Ch. V, From Ottilie’s Diary, P. 201)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“The man of understanding finds almost everything ridiculous; the man of thought scarcely anything.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Der Verständige findet fast alles lächerlich, der Vernünftige fast nichts.” (German)
(The quote is also found in: Elective Affinities: A Novel By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Holt & Williams, 1872, Ch. IV, From Ottilie’s Diary, P. 185)
(The quote in German is found here.)
“What a man does not understand, he does not possess.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Was man nicht versteht, besitzt man nicht.” (German)
(The quote is also found: Maxims and Reflections By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated By Thomas Bailey Saunders, Enhanced Media Publishing, 2017, Life And Character, 81, P. 13)
(The quote in German is found here.)
Comments are closed.