Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes About Contemplation
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Taste is only to be educated by contemplation, not of the tolerably good but of the truly excellent. I therefore show you only the best works; and when you are grounded in these, you will have a standard for the rest, which you will know how to value, without overrating them.
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The one who acts is always without conscience; nobody has a conscience but the contemplative person.
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Taste is only to be educated by contemplation, not of the tolerably good but of the truly excellent.
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Without my attempts in natural science, I should never have learned to know mankind such as it is. In nothing else can we so closely approach pure contemplation and thought, so closely observe the errors of the senses and of the understanding, the weak and strong points of character.
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As for solitude, I cannot understand how certain people seek to lay claim to intellectual stature, nobility of soul and strength of character, yet have not the slightest feeling for seclusion; for solitude, I maintain, when joined with a quiet contemplation of nature, a serene and conscious faith in creation and the Creator, and a few vexations from outside is the only school for a mind of lofty endowment.
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Self knowledge is best learned not by contemplation, but by action.
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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Born: August 28, 1749
- Died: March 22, 1832
- Occupation: Writer
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