Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann WolfgangGoethetə/; German: ; 28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German writer and statesman. His body of work includes epic and lyric poetry written in a variety of metres and styles; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour; and four novels. In addition, numerous literary and scientific fragments, more than 10,000 letters, and nearly 3,000 drawings by him exist...
NationalityGerman
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth28 August 1749
CountryGermany
Hatred is a heavy burden. It sinks the heart deep in the breast, and lies like a tombstone on all joys.
If it is the greatest truth that you seek, the plants can direct you.
It is better to be doing the most insignificant thing than to reckon even a half-hour insignificant.
Whoever strenuously endeavors, him we can rescue.
I will say with Lorenzo de Medici that those who do not hope for another life are always dead to this one.
It is better to be deceived by one's friends than to deceive them.
Music is either sacred or secular. The sacred agrees with its dignity, and here has its greatest effect on life, an effect that remains the same through all ages and epochs. Secular music should be cheerful throughout.
Everything transitory is but an image.
You must be either the servant or the master, the hammer or the anvil.
I was oppressed with the sensations I then felt; I sunk under the weight of them.
The poet should size the Particular, and he should, if there be anything sound in it, thus represent the Universal
The persons born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.
There are two things parents should give their children: roots and wings. Roots to give them bearing and a sense of belonging, but also wings to help free them from constraints and prejudices and give them other ways to travel (or rather, to fly).