Is there anyone alive today who can compare with the dossier of a Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who was born on this date in 1749? During his lifetime he was called “the greatest man the world has ever produced.” Not only was he the founder of German literature, but also a politician, philosopher, botanist, anatomist, geologist, physicist, and historian of science. Goethe knew French, English, Italian, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew and translated works by Diderot, Voltaire, Cellini, Byron, and others.
For most of his life he worked on the epic poem Faust, the classic tale of a man who sells his soul to the devil but gets into heaven anyway..
I’ve only scratched the surface into von Goethe’s life, works, and accomplishments and leave it to you if you wish to delve further. The following are attributed to him:
THE RULE OF LIFE.
IF thou wouldst live unruffled by care,
Let not the past torment thee e'er;
As little as possible be thou annoy'd,
And let the present be ever enjoy'd;
Ne'er let thy breast with hate be supplied,
And to God the future confide.
1815.*
One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.
Age merely shows what children we remain
Happiness is a ball after which we run wherever it rolls, and we push it with our feet when it stops.
Who is the wisest man? He who neither knows or wishes for anything else than what happens.
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