Could we perfect human nature, we might also expect a perfect state of things.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheAll the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheMoral epochs have their course as well as the seasons. We can no more hold them fast than we can hold sun, moon, and stars. Our faults perpetually return upon us; and herein lies the subtlest difficulty of self-knowledge.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe