Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

(28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832 / Frankfurt am Main)

poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
#92 on top 500 poets

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes

  • ''Nature is so perfect that the Trinity couldn't have fashioned her any more perfect. She is an organ on which our Lord plays and the devil works the bellows.''
    Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet, dramatist. Conversation with Sulpiz Boisserée (September 8, 1815).
    3 person liked.
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  • ''Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words.''
    Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet, dramatist. Serlo, in Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, bk. 5, ch. 1 (1795-1796), trans. by Thomas Carlyle.
    18 person liked.
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  • ''When married one has to get into an argument once in a while since in this way one learns about the other.''
    Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet, dramatist. Eduard, in Elective Affinities, bk. I, ch. 2 (1809).
    5 person liked.
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  • ''Every day one should at least listen to a little song, read a good poem, look at a fine painting, and, if possible, say a few reasonable words.''
    Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet, dramatist. Serlo, in Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, bk. V, ch. 1 (1795-1796).
    9 person liked.
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  • ''Voluntary dependence is the wonderful form of existence, and how could that be possible without love?''
    Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet, dramatist. Elective Affinities, bk. II, ch. 5 (1809).
    5 person liked.
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  • ''So much has already been said about Shakespeare that there doesn't seem to be anything more to say; yet it is the quality of the spirit that it forever stimulates the spirit.''
    Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet, dramatist. Shakespeare and No End (1813).
    3 person liked.
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  • ''Someone criticized an elderly man for wooing young women. He replied that that was the only way to rejuvenation, which was, after all, everybody's wish.''
    Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet, dramatist. Elective Affinities, bk. II, ch. 4, from Ottilie's Diary (1809).
    3 person liked.
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  • ''Association with women is the basis of good manners.''
    Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet, dramatist. Elective Affinities, bk. II, ch. 5, from Ottilie's Diary (1809).
    4 person liked.
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  • ''For that is love's nature that it lays claim to exclusive right and that all other claims are nil.''
    Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet, dramatist. Elective Affinities, bk. 1, ch. 12 (1809).
    2 person liked.
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  • ''Pity on the person who has become accustomed to seeing in necessity something arbitrary, who ascribes to the arbitrary some sort of reason, and even claims that following that sort of reason has religious value.''
    Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet, dramatist. the Abbé, in Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, bk. I, ch. 17 (1795-1796).
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Best Poem of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The Erl-King

1.
WHO rides there so late through the night dark and drear?
The father it is, with his infant so dear;
He holdeth the boy tightly clasp'd in his arm,
He holdeth him safely, he keepeth him warm.

"My son, wherefore seek'st thou thy face thus to hide?"
"Look, father, the Erl-King is close by our side!
Dost see not the Erl-King, with crown and with train?"
"My son, 'tis the mist rising over the plain."

"Oh, come, thou dear infant! oh come thou with me!
Full many a game I will play there with thee;
On my strand, lovely flowers their blossoms unfold,
My ...

Read the full of The Erl-King

Reciprocal

MY mistress, where sits she?

What is it that charms?
The absent she's rocking,

Held fast in her arms.

In pretty cage prison'd

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