Man believes himself always greater than he is, and is esteemed less than he is worth.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheOur mistakes and failures are always the first to strike us, and outweigh in our imagination what we have accomplished and attained.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheThe poet should seize the Particular, and he should, if there be anything sound in it, thus represent the Universal.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheA man does not mind being blamed for his faults, and being punished for them, and he patiently suffers much for them; but he becomes impatient if he is required to give them up.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheEveryone holds his fortune in his own hands, like a sculptor the raw material he will fashion into a figure. But it's the same with that type of artistic activity as with all others: We are merely born with the capability to do it. The Skill to mold the material into what we want must be learned and attentively cultivated.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe