Woe to him who would ascribe something like reason to Chance, and make a religion of surrendering to it.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheBeware of dissipating your powers; strive constantly to concentrate them.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheSuperstition belongs to the essence of mankind and takes refuge, when one thinks one has suppressed it completely, in the strangest nooks and crannies; once it is safely ensconced there, it suddenly reappears.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheAll ages have said and repeated that one should strive to know one's self. This is a strange demand which no one up to now has measured up to and, strictly considered, no one should. With all their study and effort, people are directed to what is outside, to the world about them, and they are kept busy coming to know this and to master it to the extent that their purposes require. . . . How 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. And what is your duty? Whatever the day calls for.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe