QuoteProject
Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

True brilliance comes from valuing respect and integrity.

This quote suggests that intelligence or talent loses its significance if it is not accompanied by respect for others and for oneself. It implies that a person’s greatness is measured not just by their abilities but also by their character and the way they treat others.

Themes

BrillianceRespectCharacterIntegrityWisdom

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about the importance of ethics in business, one might say, 'As Goethe reminds us, being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing.'

More from Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us something beyond our wishes.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From its springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
I am amazed to see how deliberately I have entangled myself step by step. To have seen my position so clearly, and yet to have acted so like a child!
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Seldom in the business and transactions of ordinary life, do we find the sympathy we want.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Know thyself? If I knew myself I would run away.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead

Similar quotes

I left the fairy tales lying on the floor of the nursery, and I have not found any books so sensible since.
Gilbert K. ChestertonRead
When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day.
Mahatma GandhiRead
Simplicity and sincerity generally go hand in hand, as both proceed from a love of truth.
Mary WollstonecraftRead
I feel no need for any other faith than my faith in human beings.
Pearl S. BuckRead
He who laughs most, learns best.
John CleeseRead
The right thing to do never requires any subterfuge, it is always simple and direct.
Calvin CoolidgeRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.