All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Nothing is more damaging to the truth than an old error.
Interpretation
Old misconceptions can distort our understanding of the truth.
This quote by Goethe emphasizes the importance of recognizing and correcting past mistakes or misunderstandings. It suggests that clinging to outdated beliefs not only hinders personal growth but can also prevent society from progressing towards a more accurate understanding of reality.
In practice
A speaker might use this quote when discussing the importance of updating scientific theories in light of new evidence.
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.
Genius is simply patience carried to the extreme.
Realizing that we've surrendered our self-esteem to others and choosing to be accountable for our own self-worth would mean absorbing the terrifying fact that we're always vulnerable to pain and loss.
Does anybody think these people were just sitting around drinking tea?
No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness.
I would run into the corner store, the bodega, and just grab a paper bag or buy juice - anything just to get a paper bag. And I'd write the words on the paper bag and stuff these ideas in my pocket until I got back. Then I would transfer them into the notebook.
When you procrastinate, you're more likely to let your mind wander. That gives you a better chance of stumbling onto the unusual and spotting unexpected patterns.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.