Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes on Justice
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, scientist, and the towering figure of German Classicism. This page collects quotes attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe on the topic of justice, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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“There is no outward mark of politeness that does not have a profound moral reason. The right education would be that which taught the outward mark and the moral reason together.”
Elective Affinities(1809) | Bk. II, Ch. 5, R. J. Hollingdale , trans. (1971), p. 195 -
“Just as, out of habit, one consults a run-down clock as though it were still going, so too one may look at the face of a beautiful woman as though she were still in love.”
Maxims and Reflections(1833) | Maxim 246, trans. Stopp -
“There's nothing clever that hasn't been thought of before — you've just got to try to think it all over again.”
Maxims and Reflections(1833) | Maxim 441, trans. Stopp Variant translation: All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again. -
“Variant translation: He who maintains he's right—if his the gift of tongues— Will have the last word certainly.”
Faust, Part 1(1808) | Faust and Gretchen. A Street -
“Three things are to be looked to in a building: that it stand on the right spot; that it be securely founded; that it be successfully executed.”
Elective Affinities(1809) | Bk. I, Ch. 9 -
“Once a man's thirty, he's already old, He is indeed as good as dead. It's best to kill him right away.”
Faust, Part 2(1832) | Act II, The Gothic Chamber