All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
The thinker makes a great mistake when he asks after cause and effect. They both together make up the indivisible phenomenon.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The thinker incorrectly separates cause and effect as distinct entities, as they are interdependent in creating experiences.
In this quote, Goethe suggests that the concepts of cause and effect should not be viewed as standalone elements, but rather as intertwined components of a single phenomenon. By attempting to analyze them separately, one risks overlooking the complexity and unity of the situations we encounter in life, which are shaped by both elements working together.
Themes
CauseEffectPhenomenonPhilosophyThinking
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about scientific theories, one might reference this quote to emphasize the interconnectedness of different phenomena.
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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