It is in the half fools and the half wise that the greatest danger lies.

In praising or loving a child, we love and praise not that which is, but that which we hope for.

If we examine every stage of our lives, we find that from our first breath to our last we are under the constraint of circumstances. And yet we still possess the greatest of all freedoms, the power of developing our innermost selves in harmony with the moral order of the universe, and so winning peace of heart whatever obstacles we meet.

There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From its springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior.

The sun had, in the meanwhile, sunk behind the Ettersberg. We felt in the wood the chill of the evening, and drove all the quicker to Wiemar, and to Goethe's house. Goethe urged me to go in with him for a while, and I did so. He was in an extremely engaging mood. He talked a great deal about his theory of colors, and of his obstinate opponents; remarking that he was sure that he had done something in this science.

How often do I lull my seething blood to rest, for you have never seen anything so unsteady, so uncertain, as this heart.

The greater part of all the mischief in the world arises from the fact that men do not sufficiently understand their own aims.