"He who has a task to perform must know how to take sides, or he is quite unworthy of it."

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More quotes from: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

• "A clever man commits no minor blunders. "
• "A correct answer is like an affectionate kiss. "
• "A creation of importance can only be produced when its author isolates himself, it is ..."
• "A man's manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait. "
• "A noble person attracts noble people, and knows how to hold on to them. "
• "A person hears only what they understand. "
• "A person places themselves on a level with the ones they praise. "
• "A purpose you impart is no longer your own. "
• "A really great talent finds its happiness in execution. "
• "A useless life is an early death. "
• "Against criticism a man can neither protest nor defend himself; he must act in spite ..."
• "Age merely shows what children we remain. "
• "Alas! sorrow from happiness is oft evolved. "
• "All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to ..."
• "All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my ..."
• "All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green. "
• "All things are only transitory. "
• "All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them ..."
• "An unused life is an early death. "
• "As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live. "
• "Be above it! Make the world serve your purpose, but do not serve it. "
• "Be generous with kindly words, especially about those who are absent. "
• "Beauty is a manifestation of secret natural laws, which otherwise would have been hidden from ..."
• "Beauty is a primeval phenomenon, which itself never makes its appearance, but the reflection of ..."
• "Beauty is everywhere a welcome guest. "
• "Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image. "
• "Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing. "
• "Certain defects are necessary for the existence of individuality. "
• "Certain flaws are necessary for the whole. It would seem strange if old friends lacked ..."
• "Character develops itself in the stream of life. "
• "Character is formed in the stormy billows of the world. "
• "Character, in great and little things, means carrying through what you feel able to do. "
• "Common sense is the genius of humanity. "
• "Correction does much, but encouragement does more. "
• "Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward; they may be beaten, but they may start ..."
• "Death is a commingling of eternity with time; in the death of a good man, ..."
• "Deeply earnest and thoughtful people stand on shaky footing with the public. "
• "Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us ..."
• "Devote each day to the object then in time and every evening will find something ..."
• "Divide and rule, the politician cries; unite and lead, is watchword of the wise. "
• "Do not give in too much to feelings. A overly sensitive heart is an unhappy ..."
• "Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men. "
• "Every author in some way portrays himself in his works, even if it be against ..."
• "Every person above the ordinary has a certain mission that they are called to fulfill. "
• "Every spoken word arouses our self-will. "
• "Every step of life shows much caution is required. "
• "Everybody wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow. "
• "Everyone hears only what he understands. "
• "Everything in the world may be endured except continual prosperity. "
• "Few people have the imagination for reality. "
• "First and last, what is demanded of genius is love of truth. "
• "For a man to achieve all that is demanded of him he must regard himself ..."
• "For just when ideas fail, a word comes in to save the situation. "
• "Freedom consists not in refusing to recognize anything above us, but in respecting something which ..."
• "Fresh activity is the only means of overcoming adversity. "
• "Girls we love for what they are; young men for what they promise to be. "
• "Happiness is a ball after which we run wherever it rolls, and we push it ..."
• "Hatred is active, and envy passive dislike; there is but one step from envy to ..."
• "Hatred is something peculiar. You will always find it strongest and most violent where there ..."
• "He is dead in this world who has no belief in another. "
• "He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. "
• "He only earns his freedom and his life Who takes them every day by storm. "
• "He who does not think much of himself is much more esteemed than he imagines. "
• "He who enjoys doing and enjoys what he has done is happy. "
• "He who is plenteously provided for from within, needs but little from without. "
• "How can we know ourselves? Never by reflection, but only through action. Begin at once ..."
• "How can you come to know yourself? Never by thinking; always by doing. Try to ..."
• "I call architecture frozen music. "
• "I can tell you, honest friend, what to believe: believe life; it teaches better that ..."
• "I do not know myself, and God forbid that I should. "
• "I respect the man who knows distinctly what he wishes. The greater part of all ..."
• "I think that I am better than the people who are trying to reform me. "
• "I will listen to anyone's convictions, but pray keep your doubts to yourself. "
• "If a good person does you wrong, act as though you had not noticed it. ..."
• "If a man or woman is born ten years sooner or later, their whole aspect ..."

• "If a man writes a book, let him set down only what he knows. I ..."
• "If any many wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear ..."
• "If any wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in ..."
• "If children grew up according to early indications, we should have nothing but geniuses. "
• "If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise. "
• "If I love you, what does that matter to you! "
• "If I say to the moment: 'Stay now! You are so beautiful'! "
• "If you modestly enjoy your fame you are not unworthy to rank with the holy. "
• "If you must tell me your opinions, tell me what you believe in. I have ..."
• "If you start to think of your physical and moral condition, you usually find that ..."
• "If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words. "
• "If your treat an individual... as if he were what he ought to be and ..."
• "Ignorant men raise questions that wise men answered a thousand years ago. "
• "In art the best is good enough. "
• "In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm... in the real world all rests ..."
• "It is better to be deceived by one's friends than to deceive them. "
• "It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on ..."
• "It is in self-limitation that a master first shows himself. "
• "It is not doing the thing we like to do, but liking the thing we ..."
• "It is the strange fate of man, that even in the greatest of evils the ..."
• "It seems to never occur to fools that merit and good fortune are closely united. "
• "Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live. "
• "Know thyself? If I knew myself I would run away. "
• "Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do. "
• "Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be ..."
• "Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them. "
• "Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes. "
• "Life is the childhood of our immortality. "
• "Live dangerously and you live right. "
• "Love and desire are the spirit's wings to great deeds. "
• "Love can do much, but duty more. "
• "Love does not dominate; it cultivates. "
• "Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen. "
• "Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is. "
• "Many people take no care of their money till they come nearly to the end ..."
• "Mastery passes often for egotism. "
• "Mathematicians are like Frenchmen: whatever you say to them they translate into their own language ..."
• "Men show their character in nothing more clearly than what they think laughable. "
• "My poor head is in such a whirl, my mind is all in bits. "
• "Mysteries are not necessarily miracles. "
• "Nature knows no pause in progress and development, and attaches her curse on all inaction. "
• "No one has ever learned fully to know themselves. "
• "No one would talk much in society if they knew how often they misunderstood others. "
• "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free. "
• "None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free. "
• "Not the maker of plans and promises, but rather the one who offers faithful service ..."
• "Nothing is more fearful than imagination without taste. "
• "Nothing is more terrible than to see ignorance in action. "
• "Nothing is to be rated higher than the value of the day. "
• "Nothing is worth more than this day. "
• "Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at. "
• "Objects in pictures should so be arranged as by their very position to tell their ..."
• "On all the peaks lies peace. "
• "One always has time enough, if one will apply it well. "
• "One can be instructed in society, one is inspired only in solitude. "
• "One must ask children and birds how cherries and strawberries taste. "
• "One ought every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, ..."
• "Passions are vices or virtues to their highest powers. "
• "People are so constituted that everybody would rather undertake what they see others do, whether ..."
• "People have a peculiar pleasure in making converts, that is, in causing others to enjoy ..."
• "Personality is everything in art and poetry. "
• "Plunge boldly into the thick of life, and seize it where you will, it is ..."
• "Precaution is better than cure. "
• "Reason can never be popular. Passions and feelings may become popular, but reason will always ..."
• "Science arose from poetry... when times change the two can meet again on a higher ..."
• "Self-knowledge comes from knowing other men. "
• "Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter. Who would think that those branches ..."
• "Sowing is not as difficult as reaping. "
• "Strike the dog dead, it's but a critic! "
• "Superstition is the poetry of life. "
• "Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes ..."
• "Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life. "
• "Talents are best nurtured in solitude. Character is best formed in the stormy billows of ..."
• "Talk well of the absent whenever you have the opportunity. "

• "The artist alone sees spirits. But after he has told of their appearing to him, ..."
• "The best government is that which teaches us to govern ourselves. "
• "The biggest problem with every art is by the use of appearance to create a ..."
• "The Christian religion, though scattered and abroad will in the end gather itself together at ..."
• "The coward only threatens when he is safe. "
• "The credit of advancing science has always been due to individuals and never to the ..."
• "The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation. "
• "The deed is everything, the glory is naught. "
• "The deed is everything, the glory naught. "
• "The formation of one's character ought to be everyone's chief aim. "
• "The human mind will not be confined to any limits. "
• "The intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous, the sensible man hardly anything. "
• "The little man is still a man. "
• "The man who occupies the first place seldom plays the principal part. "
• "The man with insight enough to admit his limitations comes nearest to perfection. "
• "The mediator of the inexpressible is the work of art. "
• "The most happy man is he who knows how to bring into relation the end ..."
• "The most original of authors are not so because they advance what is new, but ..."
• "The people who are absent are the ideal; those who are present seem to be ..."
• "The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest ..."
• "The really unhappy person is the one who leaves undone what they can do, and ..."
• "The right man is the one who seizes the moment. "
• "The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone. "
• "The unnatural, that too is natural. "
• "The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers and cities; but ..."
• "The world remains ever the same. "
• "There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From its springs ..."
• "There is no past that we can bring back by longing for it. There is ..."
• "There is nothing in the world more shameful than establishing one's self on lies and ..."
• "There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh ..."
• "There is nothing more frightful than imagination without taste. "
• "They travel with a constant companion, autumn. "
• "Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the ..."
• "Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking. "
• "This is the highest wisdom that I own; freedom and life are earned by those ..."
• "Those who hope for no other life are dead even for this. "
• "Three may keep counsel, if two are away. "
• "To appreciate the noble is a gain which can never be torn from us. "
• "To create something you must be something. "
• "To hard necessity ones will and fancy must conform. "
• "To rule is easy, to govern difficult. "
• "To the person with a firm purpose all men and things are servants. "
• "To witness two lovers is a spectacle for the gods. "
• "Traveling is like gambling: it is always connected with winning and losing, and generally where ..."
• "Trust yourself, then you will know how to live. "
• "Unlike grown ups, children have little need to deceive themselves. "
• "Upon the creatures we have made, we are, ourselves, at last, dependent. "
• "We always have time enough, if we will but use it aright. "
• "We are forced to participate in the games of life before we can possibly learn ..."
• "We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves. "
• "We are never further from what we wish than when we believe that we have ..."
• "We can always redeem the man who aspires and strives. "
• "We can't form our children on our own concepts; we must take them and love ..."
• "We cannot fashion our children after our desires, we must have them and love them ..."
• "We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is ..."
• "We don't get to know people when they come to us; we must go to ..."
• "We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases. "
• "We will burn that bridge when we come to it. "
• "What by a straight path cannot be reached by crooked ways is never won. "
• "What I possess I would gladly retain. Change amuses the mind, yet scarcely profits. "
• "What is important in life is life, and not the result of life. "
• "What is my life if I am no longer useful to others. "
• "What is not started today is never finished tomorrow. "
• "What life half gives a man, posterity gives entirely. "
• "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and ..."
• "Whatever you cannot understand, you cannot possess. "
• "When ideas fail, words come in very handy. "
• "Whether a person shows themselves to be a genius in science or in writing a ..."
• "Who is the most sensible person? The one who finds what is to their own ..."
• "Who is the wisest man? He who neither knows or wishes for anything else than ..."
• "Whoever wishes to keep a secret must hide the fact that he possesses one. "
• "Wisdom is found only in truth. "
• "Wood burns because it has the proper stuff in it; and a man becomes famous ..."