About Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:
Johann Wolfgang Goethe was a German writer and statesman. His body of work includes epic and lyric poetry written in a variety of metres and styles; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour; and four novels. In addition, numerous literary and scientific fragments, more than 10,000 letters, and nearly 3,000 drawings by him are extant. A literary celebrity by the age of 25, Goethe was ennobled by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Karl August in 1782 after first taking up residence there in November 1775 following the success of his first novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther. He was an early participant in the Sturm und Drang literary movement. During his first ten years in Weimar, Goethe served as a member of the Duke's privy council, sat on the war and highway commissions, oversaw the reopening of silver mines in nearby Ilmenau, and implemented a series of administrative reforms at the University of Jena. He also contributed to the planning of Weimar's botanical park and the rebuilding of its Ducal Palace, which in 1998 were together designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Who is the wisest man? He who neither knows or wishes for anything else than what happens.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheEvery author in some way portrays himself in his works, even if it be against his will.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheObjects in pictures should so be arranged as by their very position to tell their own story.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheWe are never further from what we wish than when we believe that we have what we wished for.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheThe people who are absent are the ideal; those who are present seem to be quite commonplace.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheFor a man to achieve all that is demanded of him he must regard himself as greater than he is.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheIf a man writes a book, let him set down only what he knows. I have guesses enough of my own.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe