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In society every man is taken for what he gives himself out to be but he must give himself out to be something. Better to be slightly disagreeable than altogether insignificant.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Age: 82 †
Born: 1749
Born: August 22
Died: 1832
Died: March 22
Aphorist
Art Critic
Art Theorist
Autobiographer
Botanist
Composer
Diarist
Diplomat
Jurist
Lawyer
Librarian
Librettist
Literary
Frankfurt/Main
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Goethe
goethe
johann wolfgang von goethe
joh. wolfg. von goethe
j. w. von goethe
Must
Insignificant
Giving
Slightly
Every
Gives
Something
Taken
Men
Society
Character
Give
Disagreeable
Better
Altogether

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It is only in misery that we recognize the hand of God leading good men to good.
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The greatest piece of folly is that every man thinks himself compelled to hand down what people think they have known.
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It is the fortunate who should extol fortune. [Ger., Das Gluck erhebe billig der Begluckte.]
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If we are out of synch with ourselves, everything is out of synch for us.
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Our virtues and view spring from one root.
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If you start to think of your physical and moral condition, you usually find that you are sick.
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There is nothing in the world more pitiable than an irresolute man, oscillating between two feelings, who would willingly unite the two and who does not perceive that nothing can unite them
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Gray is the color of all theory
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It is not enough to have knowledge one must apply it. It is not enough to have wishes one must also accomplish it.
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That which thy fathers have bequeathed to thee, earn it anew if thou wouldst possess it.
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Vanity is a desire of personal glory, the wish to be appreciated, honoured, and run after, not because of one's personal qualities, merits, and achievements, but because of one's individual existence. At best, therefore, it is a frivolous beauty whim it befits.
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Let no one be ashamed to say yes today if yesterday he said no. Or to say no today if yesterday he said yes. For that is life. Never to have changed-what a pitiable thing of which to boast!
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Let us live in as small a circle as we will, we are either debtors or creditors before we have had time to look around.
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Nature does not suffer her veil to be taken from her, and what she does not choose to reveal to the spirit, thou wilt not wrest from her by levers and screws.
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Just trust yourself and you'll learn the art of living.
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Secrecy has many advantages, for when you tell someone the purpose of any object right away, they often think there is nothing to it.
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Thus one can observe that those who proclaim piety as their goal and purpose usually turn into hypocrites.
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The man of understanding finds everything laughable.
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Forget not that the man who cannot enjoy his own natural gifts in silence, and find his reward in the exercise of them, will generally find himself badly off.
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