"Whatever liberates our spirit, without also giving..." - Quote by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Whatever liberates our spirit, without also giving us mastery over ourselves, is destructive.
More by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
“Care is taken that trees do not grow into the sky.[Ger., Es ist dafur gesorgt, dass die Baume nicht in den Himmel wachsen.]”
“The world is so full of simpletons and madmen, that one need not seek them in a madhouse.”
“How fair doth NatureAppear again!How bright the sunbeams!How smiles the plain!The flow'rs are burstingFrom ev'ry bough,And thousand voicesEach bush yields now.And joy and gladnessFill ev'ry breast!Oh earth!-oh sunlight!Oh rapture blest!Oh love! oh loved one!”
More on Self Control
“There is really no insurmountable barrier save your own inherent weakness of purpose.”
“As regards this vice, we read that the peacock is more guilty of it than any other animal. For it is always contemplating the beauty of its tail, which it spreads in the form of a wheel, and by its cries attracts to itself the gaze of the creatures that surround it. And this is the last vice to be conquered.”
“It requires no small degree of ability to know when to conceal one's ability.”
More on Freedom
“Most codes extend their definitions of treason to acts not really against one's country. They do not distinguish between acts against the government, and acts against the oppressions of the government. The latter are virtues, yet have furnished more victims to the executioner than the former. Real treasons are rare; oppressions frequent. The unsuccessful strugglers against tyranny have been the chief martyrs of treason laws in all countries.”
“I don't believe in government. I hate politics. I'm against it. And I hope that sometime this fall, we can destroy part of our government, and next year destroy even more of it. The less government, the happier I will be.”
“Inevitably we look upon society, so kind to you, so harsh to us, as an ill-fitting form that distorts the truth; deforms the mind; fetters the will.”