Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing.”

“This is the highest wisdom that I own; freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew.”

“Which government is the best? The one that teaches us to govern ourselves.”

“Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.”

“The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.”

“It is the strange fate of man, that even in the greatest of evils the fear of the worst continues to haunt him.”

“There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.”

“It is after all the greatest art to limit and isolate oneself.”

“Love does not dominate; it cultivates.”

“The best government is that which teaches us to govern ourselves.”

“Doubt grows with knowledge.”

“Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.”

“Wood burns because it has the proper stuff in it; and a man becomes famous because he has the proper stuff in him.”

“I love those who yearn for the impossible.”

“All things are only transitory.”

“He who does not think much of himself is much more esteemed than he imagines.”

“Happiness is a ball after which we run wherever it rolls, and we push it with our feet when it stops.”

“Nothing is more fearful than imagination without taste.”

“A really great talent finds its happiness in execution.”

“We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.”

“Personality is everything in art and poetry.”