Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The unnatural, that too is natural.
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The intelligent man find almost everything ridiculous, the sensible man hardly anything.
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If a man is to accomplish all that is demanded of him, he must deem himself greater than he is. So long as he does not carry this to an absurd length, we readily put up with it.
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Certain books seem to have been written, not in order to afford us any instruction, but merely for the purpose of letting us know that their authors knew something.
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Men would come to know each other much better if one man were not always so intent upon assuming to be the equal of another.
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I see no error made which I might not have committed myself.
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The whole art of living consists in giving up our existence in order to exist.
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Only learn to seize good fortune, for good fortune is always here.
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When ideas fail, words come in very handy.
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Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing; a confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished.

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it, boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
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Age does not make us childish, as some say; it only finds us true children still.
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The artist alone sees spirits. But after he has told of their appearing to him, everybody sees them.
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If you must tell me your opinions, tell me what you believe in. I have plenty of doubts of my own.
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We know accurately only when we know little; with knowledge doubt increases.
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Man is not born to solve the problem of the universe, but to find out what he has to do; and to restrain himself within the limits of his comprehension.
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The first and last thing required of genius is the love of truth.
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The phrases that men hear or repeat continually, end by becoming convictions and ossify the organs of intelligence.
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What is not fully understood is not possessed.
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Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at.
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Viewed from the summit of reason, all life looks like a malignant disease and the world like a madhouse.
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The society of women is the element of good manners.
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Everything in the world may be endured, except continual prosperity.
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Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live.
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All truly wise thoughts have been thoughts 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.
He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.
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What government is the best? That which teaches us to govern ourselves.
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It is not enough to have knowledge, one must also apply it. It is not enough to have wishes, one must also accomplish.
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If a man writes a book, let him set down only what he knows. I have guesses enough of my own.
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One must ask children and birds how cherries and strawberries taste.
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The man of understanding finds everything laughable.
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Correction does much, but encouragement does more.
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Everything a human being wants can be divided into four components: love, adventure, power and fame.
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Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.
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Life is not anything, but an opportunity for something.
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Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be, and he will become as he can and should be.
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We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.
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He who seizes the [right] moment is the right man.
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The most original authors are not so because they advance what is new, but because they put what they have to say as if it had never been said before.
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This is the true measure of love, When we believe that we alone can love, That no one could ever have loved so before us, And that no one will ever love in the same way after us.
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For a man to achieve all that is demanded of him he must regard himself as greater than he is.
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What does not kill me makes me stronger.
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Certain flaws are necessary for the whole. It would seem strange if old friends lacked certain quirks.
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Everybody wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow.
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One never goes so far as when one doesn't know where one is going.
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I call architecture frozen music.
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If you would create something, you must be something.
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There is nothing more odious than the majority; for it consists of a few powerful leaders, a certain number of accommodating scoundrels and subservient weaklings, and a mass of men who trudge after them without in the least knowing their own minds.
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Whenever I hear people talking about "liberal ideas", I am always astounded that men should love to fool themselves with empty sounds. An idea should never be liberal; it must be vigorous, positive, and without loose ends so that it may fulfill its divine mission and be productive. The proper place for liberality is in the realm of the emotions.
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He who wishes to exert a useful influence must be careful to insult nothing. Let him not be troubled by what seems absurd, but concentrate his energies to the creation of what is good. He must not demolish, but build. He must raise temples where mankind may come and partake of the purest pleasure.

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