What is the true test of character unless it be its progressive development in the bustle and turmoil, in the action and reaction of daily life.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheWhat people call the spirit of the times is mostly their own spirit in which the times mirror themselves.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheThat we understand something perfectly, that we accomplish something better than anyone else around us, that is what matters.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheWe cannot too soon convince ourselves how easily we may be dispensed with in the world. What important personages we imagine ourselves to be! We think that we alone are the life of the circle in which we move; in our absence, we fancy that life, existence, breath will come to a general pause, and, alas, the gap which we leave is scarcely perceptible, so quickly is it filled again; nay, it is often the place, if not of something better, at least for something more agreeable.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe