All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
What I possess I would gladly retain. Change amuses the mind, yet scarcely profits.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The desire to hold onto what we have is strong, and while change can be interesting, it often doesn't provide real benefits.
In this quote, Goethe expresses a sentiment about valuing stability and the things we possess. While he acknowledges that change can be intriguing and entertaining, he implies that it rarely leads to genuine profit or improvement in our lives. This suggests that there is comfort and security in retaining what we already have, and that not all changes are worthwhile.
Themes
ChangeStabilityPossessionsValueProfit
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of valuing traditions, one might quote Goethe to illustrate that change doesn't always lead to improvement.
More from Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
All quotes βDestiny 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.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Know thyself? If I knew myself I would run away.
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