Inspirational Quotations by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  • Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can
    and should be and he will become as he can and should be.
    From Issue 1
  • Correction does much,
    but encouragement does more.
    Topics: Correction, Encouragement, Punishment
    From Issue 19
  • There is nothing in which people more
    betray their character than in what they laugh at.
    From Issue 28
  • Thinking is easy, acting is difficult,
    and to put one's thoughts into action is
    the most difficult thing in the world.
    From Issue 38
  • Things which matter most
    must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.
    From Issue 39
  • Enjoy what you can, endure what you must.
    From Issue 73
  • Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it.
    Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.
    From Issue 91
  • Who never ate his bread in sorrow,
    Who never spent the darksome hours,
    Weeping, and watching for the morrow,
    He knows ye not, ye gloomy Powers.
    From Issue 91
  • Knowing is not enough; We must Apply.
    Willing is not enough; We must Do.
    From Issue 95
  • As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.
    From Issue 118
  • Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
    Boldness has genius, magic and power in it.
    Begin it now.
    Topic: Beginning
    From Issue 133
  • Character, in great and little things, means carrying
    through what you feel able to do.
    From Issue 143
  • The best fortune that can fall to a man is that which
    corrects his defects and makes up for his failings.
    From Issue 146
  • I can tell you, honest friend, what to believe:
    believe life; it teaches better that book or orator.
    From Issue 150
  • Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together.
    From Issue 155
  • What does not kill me makes me stronger.
    From Issue 159
  • Treat a man as he is, he will remain so.
    Treat a man the way he can be and ought to be,
    and he will become as he can be and should be.
    From Issue 161
  • None are more hopelessly enslaved
    than those who falsely believe they are free.
    From Issue 162
  • All truly wise thoughts have been thought 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.
    From Issue 168
  • Habit is a man's sole comfort.
    We dislike doing without even
    unpleasant things to which we have become accustomed.
    From Issue 172
  • Courage and modesty are the most unequivocal of virtues,
    for they are of a kind that hypocrisy cannot imitate;
    they too have this quality in common,
    that they are expressed by the same color.
    From Issue 172
  • Everything a human being wants can be divided
    into four components: love, adventure, power and fame.
    From Issue 175
  • Everything in the world may be endured except continued prosperity.
    From Issue 197
  • Treat people as they are and they will remain as they are.
    Treat people as they could be and they will become as they could be.
    From Issue 221
  • When ideas fail, words come in very handy.
    From Issue 228
  • There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action
    From Issue 234
  • The greatest difficulties lie where we are not looking for them.
    From Issue 238
  • In all things it is better to hope than to despair.
    From Issue 249
  • A clever man commits no minor blunders.
    From Issue 257
  • Love and desire are the spirit's wings to great deeds.
    From Issue 265
  • Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image.
    From Issue 266
  • When ideas fail, words come in very handy.
    From Issue 272
  • What you can do, or think you can, begin it.
    From Issue 280
  • Without haste, but without rest.
    From Issue 282
  • Everybody wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow.
    From Issue 289

A design by Nagesh Belludi • 10-Jun-08 • Protected under a Creative Commons License