Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes

Content thyself to be obscurely good. When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway, the post of honoris a private station.

For as much as to understand and to be mighty are great qualities, the higher that they be, they are so much the less to be esteemed if goodness also abound not in the possessor.

A good man with a good conscience doesn't walk so fast.

There is no better proof of a man's being truly good than his desiring to be constantly under the observation of good men.

A man should be upright, not be kept upright.

An honest man's the noblest work of God.

Wise people, even though all laws were abolished, would still lead the same life.

Put more trust in nobility of character than in an oath.

All virtue is summed up in dealing justly.

Base thy life on principle, not on rules.

He is good and wise who always speaks the truth, acts on the dictates of virtue, and tries to make others good and happy.

If a thing is right it can be done, and if it is wrong it can be done without; and a good man will find a way.

Honour travels in a strait so narrow Where one but goes abreast.

Do what is right, and you'll have no lasting regrets. Do what is right, and put yourself on the side of truth, goodness, and the best of life.

I've never stopped trying to do what's right. I'm not doing it to earn favor with God. I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do.

He who is upright in his way of life and free from sin.

A good man will avoid the spot of any sin. The very aspersion is grievous, which makes him choose his way in his life, as he would in his journey.

I think most people know inherently that good wins.

Let us be true: this is the highest maxim of art and of life, the secret of eloquence and of virtue, and of all moral authority.

A good man, is a good man, whether in this church, or out of it.

Never in my life did I steal a penny that didn't belong to me.

A man has honor if he holds himself to an ideal of conduct though it is inconvenient, unprofitable, or dangerous to do so.

Live truth instead of professing it.

Character is that quality of mind which makes truth-telling instinctive rather than strange.