Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes on Mind
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 mind, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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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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“Behavior is a mirror in which everyone shows his image.”
Maxim 39, trans. Stopp | Variant translation: A man's manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait. -
“What dazzles, for the Moment spends its spirit: What's genuine, shall Posterity inherit.”
Faust, Part 1(1808) | Prelude on the Stage -
“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 -
“What wise or stupid thing can man conceive That was not thought of in ages long ago?”
Faust, Part 2(1832) | Act II, The Gothic Chamber -
“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. -
“Everything that liberates our mind without at the same time imparting self-control is pernicious.”
Maxims and Reflections(1833) | Maxim 504, trans. Stopp Variant translation: Everything that emancipates the spirit without giving us control over ourselves is harmful. -
“A thinking man's greatest happiness is to have fathomed what can be fathomed and to revere in silence what cannot be fathomed.”
Maxims and Reflections(1833) | Maxim 1207, trans. Stopp ( p153 ) Variant translation: The greatest happiness for the thinking man is to have fathomed the fathomable, and to quietly revere the unfathomable. -
“All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.”
Wilhelm Meister's Wanderjahre(Journeyman Years)(1821–1829) | Variant: All truly wise thoughts have been thoughts already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience.