Piety is not a goal but a means to attain through the purest peace of mind the highest culture.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheAccepting good advice means nothing other than to strengthen one's own ability.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheAll sects seem to me to be right in what they assert, and wrong in what they deny.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheWhatever we may say against collections, which present authors in a disjointed form, they nevertheless bring about many excellent results. We are not always so composed, so full of wisdom, that we are able to take in at once the whole scope of a work according to its merits. Do we not mark in a book passages which seem to have a direct reference to ourselves? Young people especially, who have failed in acquiring a complete cultivation of mind, are roused in a praiseworthy way by brilliant passages.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe