Quotes by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
11 quotes by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (died 1832), taken from 5 works. Each is given word for word, with its work, its passage and its source.
Works quoted: The Sorrows of Young Werther, Maxims and Reflections, Faust, The Wanderer’s Night-Song and Wilhelm Meister’s Travels.
The Sorrows of Young Werther
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“A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart.”
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“If our hearts were always disposed to receive the benefits Heaven sends us, we should acquire strength to support evil when it comes.”
Maxims and Reflections
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“A man is really alive only when he delights in the good-will of others.”
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“He is the happiest man who can set the end of his life in connection with the beginning.”
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“Love of truth shows itself in this, that a man knows how to find and value the good in everything.”
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“The greatest piece of good fortune is that which corrects our deficiencies and redeems our mistakes.”
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“There is a politeness of the heart, and it is allied to love. It produces the most agreeable politeness of outward demeanour.”
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“I pity those who make much ado about the transitory nature of all things and are lost in the contemplation of earthly vanity: are we not here to make the transitory permanent?”
Faust
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“Gray, my good friend, is every theory, But green the golden tree of life.”
The Wanderer’s Night-Song
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“Thou who comest from on high, / Who all woes and sorrows stillest, / Who, for twofold misery, / Hearts with twofold balsam fillest, / Would this constant strife would cease! / What are pain and rapture now? / Blissful Peace, / To my bosom hasten thou!”
Wilhelm Meister’s Travels
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“If aged and life-weary men have called to their neighbors, Think of dying! we younger and life-loving men may well keep encouraging and reminding one another with the cheerful words, Think of wandering!”