Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes

One of the most striking signs of the decay of art is the intermixing of different genres.

The spirits that I summoned up
I now can't rid myself of.

Hermann und Dorothea (1797)

We can't form our children on our own concepts; we must take them and love them as God gives them to us.

Love does not dominate, it cultivates. And that is more.

Die Liebe herrscht nicht, aber sie bildet; und das ist mehr!

Investigate what is, and not what pleases.

Untersuchen was ist, und nicht was behagt

A talent is formed in stillness, a character in the world's torrent.

A noble person attracts noble people, and knows how to hold on to them.

In art the best is good enough.

In der Kunst ist das Beste gut genug.

Let the noble man Be generous and good, Tirelessly achieving What is just and useful: Let him be a model For those beings whom he surmises.

Only mankind Can do the impossible: He can distinguish, He chooses and judges, He can give permanence To the moment.

As great, everlasting, Adamantine laws Dictate, we must all Complete the cycles Of our existence.