“When a nation which has long groaned under the intolerable yoke of a tyrant rises at last and throws off its chains, do you call that weakness? The man who, to rescue his house from the flames, finds his physical strength redoubled, so that he lifts burdens with ease which in the absence of excitement he could scarcely move; he who under the rage of an insult attacks and puts to flight half a score of his enemies,—are such persons to be called weak? My good friend, if resistance be strength, how can the highest degree of resistance be a weakness?”

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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.

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Books by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Die Wahlverwandtschaften. Ein Roman

1999

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Italienische Reise

2007

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The Metamorphosis of Plants

2009

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