I never believed in trying to do anything. Whatever I set out to do I found I had already accomplished. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe More Quotes by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe More Quotes From Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The credit of advancing science has always been due to individuals and never to the age. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe age birthday science The unnatural, that too is natural. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe sexuality nature wisdom We are never further from what we wish than when we believe that we have what we wished for. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wish believe For a man to achieve all that is demanded of him he must regard himself as greater than he is. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe confidence success men He who has a task to perform must know how to take sides, or he is quite unworthy of it. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe prejudice tasks literature Superstition is the poetry of life. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe superstitions literature life The man who occupies the first place seldom plays the principal part. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe leadership play men To hard necessity ones will and fancy must conform. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe conform fancy literature Upon the creatures we have made, we are, ourselves, at last, dependent. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe promotion lasts literature What life half gives a man, posterity gives entirely. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe half giving men 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 secular-music cheerful age [W]hat counts is that one perceives excellence and dares to give it expression, which sounds little but is in fact a great deal. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe excellence expression giving What I possess, seems far away to me, and what is gone becomes reality. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe far-away gone reality Waste not a day in vain digression; with resolute, courageous trust seek every possible impression and make it firmly your posession you'll then work on because you must. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe courageous vain waste In the colored reflection we have Life. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe what-is-life reflection inspirational Faust: Who holds the devil, let him hold him well, He hardly will be caught a second time. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe faust caught devil Let mental culture go on advancing, let the natural sciences progress in even greater extent and depth, and the human mind widen itself as much as it desires: beyond the elevation and moral culture of Christianity, as it shines forth in the Gospels, it will not go. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe shining mind bible Basic characteristics of an individual organism: to divide, to unite, to merge into the universal, to abide in the particular, to transform itself, to define itself, and as living things tend to appear under a thousand conditions, to arise and vanish, to solidify and melt, to freeze and flow, to expand and contract. Since these effects occur together, any or all may occur at the same moment. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe together life science The highest goal that man can achieve is amazement. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe achieve goal men It is not given to us to grasp the truth, which is identical with the divine, directly. We perceive it only in reflection, in example and symbol, in singular and related appearances. It meets us as a kind of life which is incomprehensible to us, and yet we cannot free ourselves from the desire to comprehend it. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe example reflection desire
