Goethe on Commitment
Thus spake the great Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
I have not read any of his works, I sadly confess. But I regularly read his quotes that are easily found on the web (wikiquotes and goodreads are great sources.) And of course he is quoted frequently in books and articles.
Goethe said, “All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, until they take root in our personal experience.”
I think over honestly what great minds have already thought. Who was Goethe?
The wiki in its article (link above) on Goethe says he:
“was a German polymath, who is widely regarded as the greatest and most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a profound and wide-ranging influence on Western literary, political, and philosophical thought from the late 18th century to the present day. A poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theater director, and critic, his works include plays, poetry and aesthetic criticism, as well as treatises on botany, anatomy, and color.”
And now, a few more quotes from Goethe.
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“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.”
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“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.”
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“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.”
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“We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.”
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“The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving.”
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“There is strong shadow where there is much light.”
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“Divide and rule, a sound motto. Unite and lead, a better one.”
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“Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing; a confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished.”
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“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”
I came across the quote in the image at the top of this post in W.H. Murray’s The Scottish Himalayan Expedition (1951).
Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets:
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!
(I had used this quote in a Feb 2010 post, The Importance of Committing.)
It’s all karma, neh!