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Meaning
This reads as a hard, skeptical view of human understanding, where complete clarity about oneself or others is out of reach. It can be taken to mean that relationships are always partly guessed at, even when they feel intimate. It lands in moments of loneliness, or after a misunderstanding, when certainty about another person suddenly feels fragile.
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Original Language & Translation
Originally said in English.
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About Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
German polymath
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German polymath, and one of the central figures of German literature. He is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. Goethe worked as a poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His writing ranged from plays, poetry, and aesthetic criticism to treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour, and his influence extended across literature, politics, Christian thought, and philosophy in the Western world from the late 18th century onward.
More from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (304 quotes) →Other sayings from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Literature decays only as men become more and more corrupt.”Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The limits of my language are the limits of my universe.”Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Age merely shows what children we remain.”Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “By Fortune's adverse buffets overborneTo solitude I fled, to wilds forlorn,And not in utter loneliness to liv…”Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Sympathy: more sayings
- “Honey, it isn’t democracy that runs this country. Capitalism rules. It does no good to reason with the capita…”Jerry Ash
- “There will be no sympathy for Trump from voters if he suffers greatly from COVID-19 and he wouldn't know how…”Jason Johnson
- “Most of my younger Native American friends are not in any way looking for sympathy, and they're not looking t…”Robbie Robertson
Empathy: more sayings
- “I feel empathy wherever and whenever someone feels cornered in life. Whenever someone puts in sweat and blood…”Tanushree Dutta
- “At 10, I heard Neil Diamond's 'Solitary Man' and it moved me so deeply I stood, frozen in place during school…”Dan Hill
- “Education leads to enlightenment. Enlightenment opens the way to empathy. Empathy foreshadows reform.”Derrick A. Bell
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Books by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Faust
2007
Die Wahlverwandtschaften. Ein Roman
1999
Italienische Reise
2007
The Metamorphosis of Plants
2009