There is nothing in the world more shameful than establishing one's self on lies and fables.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheA man is not little when he finds it difficult to cope with circumstances, but when circumstances overmaster him.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheEvery man must form himself as a particular being, seeking, however, to attain that general idea of which all mankind are constituents.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheMany young painters would never have taken their pencils in hand if they could have felt, known, and understood, early enough, what really produced a master like Raphael.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheHow can you come to know yourself? Never by thinking, always by doing. Try to do your duty, and you'll know right away what you amount to.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheBasic characteristics of an individual organism: to divide, to unite, to merge into the universal, to abide in the particular, to transform itself, to define itself, and as living things tend to appear under a thousand conditions, to arise and vanish, to solidify and melt, to freeze and flow, to expand and contract. Since these effects occur together, any or all may occur at the same moment.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe