Goethe Browse All Authors Top 28 quotes by Goethe It is not enough to know; we must apply what we know. It is not enough to will; we must also act. Goethe Tolerance comes of age. I see no fault committed that I myself could not have committed at some time or other. Goethe We rather confess our moral errors, faults, and crimes than our ignorance. Goethe A day of fortune is like a harvest-day, we must be busy when the corn is ripe. Goethe Behaviour is a mirror in which every one shows his image. Goethe An absent friend gives us friendly company when we are well assured of his happiness. Goethe Certain books seem to be written, not that we might learn from them, but in order that we might see how much the author knows. Goethe Every bird has its decoy, and every man is led and misled in his own peculiar way. Goethe Happy the man who early learns the difference between his wishes and his powers. Goethe He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. Goethe He who does not think too much of himself is much more esteemed than he imagines. Goethe How can we learn to know ourselves? By reflection, never, but by our actions. Attempt to do your duty, and you will immediately find what is in you. Goethe I have observed that as long as a man lives and exerts himself he can always find food and raiment, though, it may be, not of the choicest description. Goethe I put no account on him who esteems himself just as the popular breath may chance to raise him. Goethe In all things, to serve from the lowest station upwards is necessary. To restrict yourself to a trade is best. For the narrow mind, whatever he attempts is still a trade; for the higher, an art; and the highest in doing one thing does all, or, to speak less paradoxically, in the one thing which he does rightly he sees the likeness of all that is done rightly. Goethe Most men, even the most accomplished, are of limited faculties; every one sets a value on certain qualities in himself and others: these alone he is willing to favour, these alone will he have cultivated. Goethe No man learns to know his inmost nature by introspection, for he rates himself sometimes too low, and often too high, by his own measurement. Man knows himself only by comparing himself with other men; it is life that touches his genuine worth. Goethe Real and solid happiness springs from moderation. Goethe Talents are best nurtured in solitude; character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world. Goethe The greatest difficulties lie where we are not looking for them. Goethe
