Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes on Life
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe brought to the subject of life a characteristic emphasis on activity, growth, and human connection, and the quotes gathered here express it. Several of his most quoted counsels, marked here as attributed, press the point that life is fundamentally a matter of doing: knowing is not enough, we must apply, and willing is not enough, we must do. Goethe held that we are shaped and fashioned by what we love, and that to stand still is, in effect, to go backward. Against this restless striving he set the consolation of fellowship, observing that to know of even one kindred spirit living on with us, even in silence, makes our earthly ball a peopled garden. Drawn from his novels and maxims, these passages present life as action, love, growth, and accord with others.
Quotes
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Attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”
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Attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:
“A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.”
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Attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:
“We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.”
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Attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:
“He who moves not forward, goes backward.”
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“Tell me you stones, O speak, you towering palaces ! Streets, say a word! Spirit of this place, are you dumb? All things are alive in your sacred walls Eternal Rome, it's only for me all is still.”
Roman Elegies(1789) | Elegy 1 -
“To know of someone here and there whom we accord with, who is living on with us, even in silence — this makes our earthly ball a peopled garden.”
Wilhelm Meister's Lehrjahre(Apprenticeship)(1786–1830) | Bk. VII, Ch. 5