Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind? Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind; Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm, Er faßt ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm. Who rides, so late, through night and wind? It is the father with his child. He holds the boy in the crook of his arm He holds him safe, he keeps him warm. Der Erlkönig”

“When young, one is confident to be able to build palaces for mankind, but when the time comes one has one's hands full just to be able to remove their trash. Letter to Johann Kaspar Lavatar”

“Getting along with women, Knocking around with men, Having more credit than money, Thus one goes through the world. Claudine von Villa Bella”

“One lives but once in the world . Clavigo , Act I, sc. i”

“I hold to faith in the divine love”

“Alternative translation: So certain is it that he alone is great and happy, who requires neither to command nor to obey, in order to secure his being of some importance in the world. Götz von Berlichingen , Act I (1773), p. 39”

“So gewiß ist der allein glücklich und groß, der weder zu herrschen noch zu gehorchen braucht, um etwas zu sein! He alone is great and happy who fills his own station of independence, and has neither to command nor to obey.”

“Wo viel Licht ist, ist starker Schatten. There is strong shadow where there is much light . Götz von Berlichingen , Act I”

“Correction does much, but encouragement does more.”

“Instruction does much, but encouragement everything. Letter to A. F. Oeser (9 November 1768), Early and miscellaneous letters of J. W. Goethe, including letters to his mother. With notes and a short biography”