Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes

Theory is good for the intellect, but action is good for the soul. It's also good for your mental health, your physical health, and your pocketbook.

I firmly believe people have hitherto been a great deal too much taken up about doctrine and far too little about practice. The word "doctrine," as used in the Bible, means teaching of duty, not theory.

Life is a place where it is necessary to move gently. Whether it be in thought, speech, or action, the rhythm must be controlled; the law of harmony must be observed in all that one does. If there is anything that will bring satisfaction it is diving deep into Love, and then we shall realize that there is nothing which is not just; we shall never again say that anything is unjust. This is the point the wise reach, and they call it the culmination of wisdom.

I think of the need for more wisdom in the world, to deal with the knowledge that we have. At one time we had wisdom, but little knowledge. Now we have a great deal of knowledge, but do we have enough wisdom to deal with that knowledge?

An ounce of application is worth a ton of abstraction.

Consider a man riding a bicycle. Whoever he is, we can say three things about him. We know he got on the bicycle and started to move. We know that at some point he will stop and get off. Most important of all, we know that if at any point between the beginning and the end of his journey he stops moving and does not get off the bicycle he will fall off it. That is a metaphor for the journey through life of any living thing, and I think of any society of living things.

If you are centered, you can move freely.

Where wisdom reigns, there is no conflict between thinking and feeling.

The man of thought who will not act is ineffective; the man of action who will not think is dangerous.

Life is strange. You keep moving and keep growing. Before you know it, you look back and think, "What was that?"

A learned person will become noble only when he or she has put into real practice what has been learned, instead of mere words.

Life is the dancer and you are the dance.

Head knowledge is worthless, unless accompanied by submission of the will and right action.

We forget that the accumulation of knowledge and the holding of convictions must finally result in the application of that knowledge and those convictions to life itself.

Long experience has taught me not always to believe in the limitations indicated by purely theoretical considerations. These, as we well know, are based on insufficient knowledge of all the relevant factors.

By going and coming, a bird weaves its nest.

We cannot advance without new experiments in living, but no wise man tries every day what he has proved wrong the day before.

How much you move affects your strength, your power, your balance, how you look, how you think, how well you withstand the high winds and rain showers of life and how long you will stand. Everyone needs concentrated doses of several kinds of movement to remain functional.

Preceptive wisdom that has not been vivified by life has in itself no affinity for life.

Rest and activity are the steps of progress.

Things live by moving and gain strength as they go.

I think that in life, being is nothing but an illusion. If we acknowledge that and accept the fact that we are in between states, that we are moving, and this movement is the nature of our lives, and we stop having aspirations for being in a definite state, we know life better and are able to enjoy it better.

Learning gives creativity Creativity leads to thinking Thinking provides knowledge Knowledge makes you great.

The past can teach us, nurture us, but it cannot sustain us. The essence of life is change, and we must move ever forward or the soul will wither and die.

Take a rest and the world catches up with you. Lesson in life--keep moving.