All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
The suffering may be moral or physical; and in my opinion it is just as absurd to call a man a coward who destroys himself, as to call a man a coward who dies of a malignant fever.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that self-destruction and dying from illness should not be viewed differently regarding cowardice.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe highlights the complexities of suffering, whether it be moral or physical. He argues that labeling a person a coward for choosing self-destruction is as erroneous as labeling someone cowardly for succumbing to a disease. This quote prompts us to reconsider how we judge the choices of others, especially regarding their pain and suffering.
Themes
SufferingCowardiceSelf-DestructionIllnessMorality
In practice
Example use cases
In a mental health awareness seminar, this quote can highlight the struggles of those facing severe emotional pain.
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.
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
If one does away with the fact of the Resurrection, one also does away with the Cross, for both stand and fall together, and one would then have to find a new center for the whole message of the gospel.
Hans Urs Von BalthasarRead
Knowledge and liberty are so prevalent in this country, that I do not believe that the United States would ever be disposed to establish one religious sect, and lay all others under legal disabilities. But as we know not what may take place hereafter, and any such test would be exceedingly injurious to the rights of free citizens, I cannot think it altogether superfluous to have added a clause, which secures us from the possibility of such oppression.
Oliver WolcottRead
You see, I'm also a futurist. I dream about the world 50, 100, maybe even 1,000 years in the future. But I also realize I'm probably not going to see it. However, I wouldn't mind having at least a copy of myself see the future, maybe 50, 100, 1,000 years into the future. It would be a fantastic ride.
Michio KakuRead
The world is given to me only once, not one existing and one perceived. Subject and object are only one.
Erwin SchrodingerRead
Thinking men cannot be ruled; ambitious men do not stagnate.
Ayn RandRead
Anxiety is the beginning of conscience, which is the parent of the soul but is not compatible with innocence.
Angela CarterRead