Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
Quite often, as life goes on, when we feel completely secure as we go on our way, we suddenly notice that we are trapped in error, that we have allowed ourselves to be taken in by individuals, by objects, have dreamt up an affinity with them which immediately vanishes before our waking eye; and yet we cannot tear ourselves away, held fast by some power that seems incomprehensible to us. Sometimes, however, we become fully aware and realize that error as well as truth can move and spur us on to action.
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. The Autobiography of Goethe: Truth and Poetry. Translated by John Oxenford, George Bell & Sons, 1881, p. 305.
A number of American politicians are so xenophobic that they do not believe that there is anything America or Americans have to learn from foreigners or other nations. They are often apoplectic when in a legal case for example, one of the attorneys cites a case in another country or the practice of another country. Reaction is similar sometimes when policy alternatives are being debated.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, critic, and amateur artist. His works include: four novels; epic and lyric poetry; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; and treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour. He is considered to be the greatest German literary figure of the modern era.
