QuoteProject
One man's word is no man's word; we should quietly hear both sides.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

It emphasizes the importance of considering multiple perspectives before making judgments.

This quote by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe highlights the necessity of listening to both sides of a story or argument before forming an opinion. It suggests that an individual's word alone may not be reliable, implying that understanding different viewpoints is essential for clarity and fairness in discourse.

Themes

PerspectiveUnderstandingDiscourseFairnessDialogue

In practice

Example use cases

In a debate, one might quote Goethe to encourage the audience to listen carefully to opposing viewpoints.

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

Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born.
Albert EinsteinRead
Do not underestimate the human being, who sometimes appears so simple. Even with sight as sharp as an eagle, a mind as sharp as a razor, senses more powerful than gods, hearing that can catch the music and the lamentations of life, your knowledge of humanity will never be total.
Pramoedya Ananta ToerRead
I'm always trying to tackle subjects that tax me and make me think. That's the key to staying young at heart. The brain has to be exercised the same as the rest of the body.
Clint EastwoodRead
Most people think of peace as a state of Nothing Bad Happening, or Nothing Much Happening. Yet if peace is to overtake us and make us the gift of serenity and well-being, it will have to be the state of Something Good Happening.
E. B. WhiteRead
If riches increase, set not your hearts upon them: so if friends increase, set not your hearts upon them, but trust in the living God, let it be the living God that you rest on even for all outward things in this world.
Jeremiah BurroughsRead
All new ideas begin in a non-conforming mind that questions some tenet of the conventional wisdom.
Hyman RickoverRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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