Man is not born to solve the problem of the universe, but to find out what he has to do; and to restrain himself within the limits of his comprehension.
What is important in life is life, and not the result of life.
Es ist nicht genug, zu wissen, man muß auch anwenden; es ist nicht genug, zu wollen, man muß auch tun.
Let mental culture go on advancing, let the natural sciences progress in even greater extent and depth, and the human mind widen itself as much as it desires: beyond the elevation and moral culture of Christianity, as it shines forth in the Gospels, it will not go.
If you’ve never eaten while crying you don t know what life tastes like.
Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking.
All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green.
Difficulties increase the nearer we get to the goal.
The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers & cities; but to know someone who thinks & feels with us, & who, though distant, is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.
As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.
I have so much in me, and the feeling for her absorbs it all; I have so much, and without her it all comes to nothing.
No one has ever properly understood me, I have never fully understood anyone; and no one understands anyone else
Ohne Hast, aber ohne Rast. – Without haste, but without rest.
What matters creative endless toil, When, at a snatch, oblivion ends the coil?
At the moment of commitment the entire universe conspires to assist you.
Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.
It’s true that nothing in this world makes us so necessary to others as the affection we have for them.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.
Wild dreams torment me as I lie. And though a god lives in my heart, though all my power waken at his word, though he can move my every inmost part – yet nothing in the outer world is stirred. thus by existence tortured and oppressed I crave for death, I long for rest.