All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
The phrases that men hear or repeat continually, end by becoming convictions and ossify the organs of intelligence.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Repeating phrases shapes our beliefs and can limit our thinking.
This quote by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe emphasizes the power of language and repetition in shaping our convictions. It suggests that the words and phrases we hear repeatedly can solidify into fixed beliefs, potentially hindering our ability to think critically or adapt our understanding of the world.
Themes
LanguageBeliefsRepetitionIntelligenceThinking
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech to emphasize the importance of positive affirmations.
More from Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
All quotes →Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us something beyond our wishes.
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There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From its springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior.
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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!
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Seldom in the business and transactions of ordinary life, do we find the sympathy we want.
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Know thyself? If I knew myself I would run away.
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