I have often reaped what others have sowed. My work is the work of a collective being that bears the name Goethe.

He who wishes to exert a useful influence must be careful to insult nothing. Let him not be troubled by what seems absurd, but concentrate his energies to the creation of what is good. He must not demolish, but build. He must raise temples where mankind may come and partake of the purest pleasure.

Nothing is more dangerous than solitude.

He who cannot draw on three thousand years is living from hand to mouth.

A leaf that is destined to grow large is full of grooves and wrinkles at the start. Now if one has no patience and wants it smooth offhand like a willow leaf, there is trouble ahead.

Whoever makes it a rule to test action by thought, thought by action, cannot falter, and if he does, will soon find his way back to the right road.

Everything has been thought of before, but the problem is to think of it again.