Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, (1749-1832) German writer, statesman Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [1-22] of 22 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe quotesJohann Wolfgang von Goethe QuotesJohann Wolfgang von Goethe All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Lose this day loitering 'Twill be the same old story, Tomorrow and the next, Even more dilatory. Whatever you would do, Or dream of doing, begin it! Boldness has power, genius, and magic in it. Begin it now.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Merely to breathe freely does not mean to live. [Ger., Frei athmen macht das Leben nicht allein.]~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Yes! to this thought I hold with firm persistence; The last result of wisdom stamps it true; He only earns his freedom and existence Who daily conquers them anew.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Nothing is as terrible to see as ignorance in action.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The main thing is to have a soul that loves the truth and harbours it where he finds it. And another thing: truth requires constant repetition, because error is being preached about us all the time, and not only by isolated individuals but by the masses. In the newspapers and encyclopedias, in schools and universities, everywhere error rides high and basks in the consciousness of having the majority on its side.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe How can you come to know yourself? Never by thinking; always by doing. Try to do your duty, and you'll know right away what you amount to.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Talent develops in tranquillity, character in the full current of human life.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Legislators and revolutionaries who promise equality and liberty at the same time are either psychopaths or mountebanks.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The best of all government is that which teaches us to govern ourselves.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe He alone deserves liberty and life who daily must win them anew.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Tolerance comes of age. I see no fault committed that I myself could not have committed at some time or other.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The moment men obtain perfect freedom, that moment they erect a stage for the manifestation of their faults. The strong characters begin to go wrong by excess of energy; the weak by remissness of action.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe What is the best government? That which teaches us to govern ourselves.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe I always had an aversion to your apostles of freedom; each but sought for himself freedom to do what he liked.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Some books seem to have been written not to teach us anything, but to let us know that the author has known something.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The unnatural, that too is natural.~ 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 Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print