Last updated on June 16, 2025 by Roger Kaufman
Goethe (1749-1832) was a German poet, writer and scholar who is considered one of the most important representatives of German literature.
Goethe's works are known for their profound thoughts and their inspiring power.
Quotes by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – The most important points in brief
- Goethe's quotes are a source of timeless wisdom
His statements cover central themes of human existence – from of Love, nature and freedom through to knowledge, education and self-realization. - The language combines depth with elegance
Whether poetic or philosophical: Goethe formulates precisely, emotionally and always with an eye for the essential – ideal for Inspiration in everyday life. - Versatile for every situation
The 122 quotes are perfect for cards, speeches, social media or personal reflection – they appeal to both heart and mind.
In this article I have selected 122 quotes by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to inspire, motivate and live to enrich.
Whether you are looking for Wisdom, love or success, these quotes offer you valuable insights and suggestions.
Be inspired by Goethe's words and discover how you can Changing lives for the better .
The 122 best quotes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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“Everything we encounter leaves traces behind. Everything contributes imperceptibly to our education.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Life is too short to live with negative thoughts to waste." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“You often see something a hundred times, a thousand times before you really see it for the very first time.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A open ear is better than a closed door.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The secret of the lucky lies not in having, but in giving. Whoever makes others happy becomes happy." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“The best remedy, everyone Tags “The best way to start is to wake up and think about whether you can make at least one person happy that day.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Every act has consequences that cannot be foreseen.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“The secret of happiness is this Freedom, but the secret of freedom is courage.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is therefore not plot, but a habit.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“A clever person finds the best education while traveling.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“A good book is a light in the hand.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Everything wonderful that we experience in life erfahren, we can only imagine because we have experienced it.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“If you don’t enjoy it, you become inedible.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Happy alone is the soul that loves.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“The stupidity of man is inexhaustible.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"A day without laughing is a lost day." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“He who no longer loves and no longer errs, let him be buried.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“There is no right life in the wrong one.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The greatest evil we can do to our fellow human beings is not to hassenbut to be indifferent to them.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“The master only reveals himself in limitations.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Nothing in the world is as powerful as a Ideawhose time has come.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Everything that passes away is just a parable.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“If you don’t believe in yourself, you will have a hard time succeeding in life.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Only those who know longing know what I suffer.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“The most beautiful dreams of freedom and equality are only illusions if one does not take care of the education of the people.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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“Whoever fights can lose. Who does not fight has already lost." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“It's not enough to know, you also have to apply. It’s not enough to want, you have to do.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Every day is one new beginning." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“There is nothing better than a question to which you don’t know the answer.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A dreamthat does not die cannot become reality.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"The happiness of your life depends on the nature of your thoughts.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Success only comes to those who do something while waiting for success.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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Who does not Courage to dream, has no strength to fight.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“You can’t know everything, but you can learn everything.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Life is like a play: it doesn’t matter how long it is, but how colorful it is.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Patience and time are worth more than strength or passion.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“It's not enough to know, you also have to apply. It’s not enough to want, you have to do.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Habit is a kind of inner bondage.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Whoever is not inquisitive does not know anything." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“The greatest reward for our efforts is not what we get in return, but what we become as a result.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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“We are only human, we cannot do our best every day.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“If you wanted to study all the laws, you wouldn’t have time to break them.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Whoever does not know how to account for three thousand years remains inexperienced in the dark and may live from day to day.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Talent develops in the Stille, character in the flow of life.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Every now and then you should take some distance from yourself in order to find yourself better again.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“There is nothing more beautiful than freedom and independence.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“If you don’t believe in yourself, you’ll never achieve anything.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Not the lucky ones are grateful. It is the grateful who are happy.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“You shouldn’t try to predict the future, you should make it possible.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The secret of success lies in the Enthusiasm for what you do.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Fate often takes us to places we don’t really want to be, to show us people we don’t really want to get to know.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Life is one Travelwhere we have to carry our luggage alone.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
You can only see with the Heart good. The essential thing is for the Eyes invisible." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Everything great in the world only happens because someone does more than they have to.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A Error only becomes a mistake if it is not corrected.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The best doctor is the Nature, because she not only cures many diseases, but also never speaks ill of her colleagues.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Character is destiny.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Life is too short to spend it with the wrong people.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The goal is in the head, the way there is in the feet.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“You have to try the impossible to achieve the possible.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“There is nothing more beautiful than being loved, loved for its own sake, or rather in spite of itself.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“If you’re not brave enough to take risks, you won’t get anywhere in life.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Life is like a book. If you don’t travel, you only read one chapter.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Freedom like life is only earned by those who have to conquer it every day.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Only those who believe in themselves can do it else convince." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
There is no Happinessthat does not come from within.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Because there is a journey into the distance and there is a journey into the depths, back to one’s own roots.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“It is not enough to know, one must also apply; It is not enough to want, you also have to do.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Language is the clothing of thoughts." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Nothing is harder to endure than a series of good days.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Heaven and earth will People forgotten who has not contributed something to eternity.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Time is a big textbook, but students don’t always keep track of time.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“That which you have inherited from your fathers, acquire it to possess it.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Tact in love is often just cowardice.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
There is no way to Happiness. Happiness is the way.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“There is nothing more beautiful than a person who loves their life.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“If we no longer know what to do, then we should just do what we do best.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Nothing is more dangerous than good advice when it comes from a bad person.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“A good marriage is when you forgive each other for mistakes that you could have avoided.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Those who control themselves will be able to control others more easily.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“The happiness of your life depends on the nature of your thoughts.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“A clever person finds the best education while traveling.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"You must always have something to look forward to." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Nothing is harder to endure than a series of good days.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Enjoyment in the work makes the work excellent.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Action is everything, glory is nothing.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“You have to keep repeating the truth because error is also being preached around us again and again.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Recurring small acts of the Deck and love create a paradise on earth.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“You only see what you know.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“People are only fully human when they play.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The hope is like a ray of sunshine penetrating a sad soul. Even if it quickly disappears, the memory of it is a gift." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A bad deed makes that Heart heavy.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Do not give up your hopes and dreams. When they are gone, you will continue to exist but have ceased to live.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Three things are to be observed in a building: that it is in the right place, that it is well founded and that it is finished.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Truth is an indestructible plant. You can bury it under a rock and it will still come through when the time comes.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"The greatest happiness of man is that he has the possibility to change himself.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Because nothing is worse than indecision, because it eats away at you like an inner poison.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“A good person in his dark urges is well aware of the right path.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“It's not enough to know, you also have to apply. It’s not enough to want, you have to do.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The People don’t stumble over mountains, but over molehills.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Whoever fights can lose. Who does not fight has already lost." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Life is too short to think long.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Everyone has the right to their own stupidity, but some people overdo it.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Nothing is harder to endure than a series of good days.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“The only person who behaves rationally is my tailor. He takes new measurements every time he meets me, while everyone else always uses the old standards in the opinion that they also fit today still." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“You should respect other people’s opinions, but not their stupidity.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“There is no greater crime than lying, and no greater misfortune than deceit.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“It is not enough to know, one must also apply; It is not enough to want, you also have to do.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Whoever does not love wine, women and singing will remain a fool all his life.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“People are only fully human when they play.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Everyone wants to go to the source, nobody wants to go to the stream.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“The greatest happiness of man is that he can fulfill his duties.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Most people use their youth to ruin their lives and then spend their lives trying to regain their youth.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Fate shuffles the cards and we play.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Tell me and I will forget it. Show me and I will remember. Let me do it and I will understand.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Many people don’t realize how wonderful it is to read books. They have no idea what they’re missing out on.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
98 quotes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (video)
Source: Best sayings and quotes
FAQ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Here are some frequently asked questions (FAQ) about Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:
Who was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe?
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was an important German poet, writer and scholar who is considered one of the most important representatives of German literature.
What are Goethe's most famous works?
Goethe's best-known works are “Faust”, “The Sufferings of Young Werther”, “Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship” and “Iphigenie auf Tauris”. He also wrote numerous poems and plays.
What ideas did Goethe convey?
Goethe conveyed many ideas and philosophies in his works, including the importance of education, the search for truth and beauty, nature as a source of inspiration, and much more.
What was Goethe's contribution to German literature?
Goethe was an important representative of German Romanticism and wrote many important works that still have a major influence on German literature today. He is considered one of the most influential poets in the German language.
What was Goethe's relationship with nature?
Goethe had a close relationship with nature and viewed it as a source of inspiration and knowledge. His descriptions of nature in his works are famous for their beauty and depth.
What was Goethe's influence on education?
Goethe emphasized the importance of education and self-education and advocated for reform of the education system. His ideas have had a major influence on German educational history.
What was Goethe's influence on art?
Goethe's influence on art extends far beyond literature. He was also an important supporter of other arts such as painting, music and architecture.
What were Goethe's political views?
Goethe had a rather conservative political outlook and was a supporter of the monarchist system. However, he also campaigned for reforms and advocated the promotion of education and the arts.
Anything else I need to know about Johann Wolfgang von Goethe?
Here are a few more interesting facts about Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which you may not know yet:
- Goethe was multi-talented and was interested in many areas such as natural sciences, art, philosophy, literature and music.
- He had a close Friendship with the writer Friedrich Schiller, with whom he co-authored numerous works.
- Goethe was also a talented draftsman and left many sketches and drawings in his diaries.
- His theory of color theory still has Influence on science and art.
- Goethe traveled a lot and visited, among others, Italy, France, Switzerland and Austria.
- He had many love affairs, including with Charlotte Buff, who was the basis for his character Lotte in “The Sorrows of boys Werthers” served.
- Goethe was throughout his life a dedicated letter writer and thousands of his letters have been received.
- He was a great admirer of Shakespeare and translated many of the English playwright's works into German.
- Goethe was also politically active and held various positions, including minister at the court of Weimar.
- He is considered one of the most quoted poets of the world German language and his works still have a great influence on literature and culture in Germany and the world today.
