Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
Truth is a torch, but a huge one, and so it is only with blinking eyes what we all of us try to get past it, in actual terror of being burnt.
von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. The Maxims and Reflections of Goethe. Translated by Thomas Bailey Saunders, Macmillan and Co., 1893, p. 64.
Often referred to as “The Dean of Black Historians.”
This failing of human nature occurs very frequently in politics. Global Warming was an example, There were many intelligent and skilled politicians who just would not accept the reality that man’s activities on Earth were having an effect on the climate. If they did accept that truth, then the implications would have been profound and much legislation would be required which would limit the freedom of people and companies to do many things. Industries would have to have additional regulations. Government spending would be needed to protect many cities by building up infrastructure. For the Liberal, none of these steps was a major problem. But to a Conservative, all the steps that would have to be taken, were anathema to his/her ideological beliefs. So it would take much more courage for a Conservative to accept the truth of Global Warming, than for a Liberal. Few Conservatives had that courage and there was a political schism over a scientific reality that neither Liberals or Conservatives could understand. The fact that 98 percent of all the scientists who deal with climate, explained that Global Warming was a reality, did not matter to the Conservatives. There are many examples where Liberals would not accept realistic truth for a long time, like the fact that Russia had become a totalitarian dictatorship. And then there have been many issues where virtually all the politicians would not accept truth. An example was the pre WWII rise of Hitler and Fascism. Most American politicians would not accept the fact that eventually we would have to war against Fascism, and there were almost no politicians who would support spending more taxpayer money to build up the military. It took Pearl Harbor and the German Declaration of War on America to make the politicians face reality.
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.
