Johann Wolfgang von Goethe quotes

“We always have time enough, if we will but use it aright.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“When ideas fail, words come in very handy.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“A person places themselves on a level with the ones they praise.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“For a man to achieve all that is demanded of him he must regard himself as greater than he is.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“It is in self-limitation that a master first shows himself.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Mysteries are not necessarily miracles.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“One always has time enough, if one will apply it well.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Sowing is not as difficult as reaping.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Superstition is the poetry of life.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Talk well of the absent whenever you have the opportunity.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“The artist alone sees spirits. But after he has told of their appearing to him, everybody sees them.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“The human mind will not be confined to any limits.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“The man who occupies the first place seldom plays the principal part.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Those who hope for no other life are dead even for this.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“To hard necessity ones will and fancy must conform.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“To the person with a firm purpose all men and things are servants.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Upon the creatures we have made, we are, ourselves, at last, dependent.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“We are never further from what we wish than when we believe that we have what we wished for.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“What life half gives a man, posterity gives entirely.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“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.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe