All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Investigate what is, and not what pleases.
Interpretation
Focus on understanding reality rather than being swayed by superficial pleasures.
This quote emphasizes the importance of seeking truth and understanding rather than getting caught up in what is merely enjoyable or pleasing. Goethe suggests that genuine investigation of reality leads to deeper knowledge and wisdom, urging individuals to prioritize inquiry over gratification.
In practice
In a philosophical discussion about the nature of happiness, you might quote Goethe to emphasize the importance of understanding true realities.
All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.
Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us something beyond our wishes.
There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From its springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior.
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!
Seldom in the business and transactions of ordinary life, do we find the sympathy we want.
Know thyself? If I knew myself I would run away.
Thaw with her gentle persuasion is more powerful than Thor with his hammer. The one melts, the other breaks into pieces.
Some years ago there was a study to discover the most stressful occupation. It turned out not to be the head of a large business, football manager or prime minister, but rather: bus driver.
You must purge yourself before finding faults in others.
I never played a perfect 18 holes. There is no such thing. I expect to make at least seven mistakes a round. Therefore, when I make a bad shot, I don't worry about it. It is just one of the seven.
It's not to much fun to know yourself too well or think you do - everyone needs a little conceit to carry them through & past the falls.
The nearest way to glory a shortcut, as it were is to strive to be what you wish to be thought to be.
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