# Goethe's most famous quotes

Goethe lines that became household phrases, with the work they come from, mostly Faust. Only documented quotes: the popular «Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it» is not his.

- 32 votes · 18 items
- Apr 21, 2022 · Hannah Z.
- https://even.best/en/l/452/goethe-s-most-famous-quotes

## Top 15

1. **So that was the poodle's core!** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Faust, Part One, when the poodle turns into Mephistopheles; it now means «so that's the heart of the matter».
2. **Who rides so late through night and wind? It is the father with his child.** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — The ballad «The Erl-King» (1782).
3. **Grey, dear friend, is all theory, and green the golden tree of life.** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Mephistopheles to the student in Faust, Part One.
4. **Over all the hilltops is peace.** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — «Wanderer's Nightsong» (1780), written in pencil on the wall of a hut on the Kickelhahn.
5. **Here I stand, poor fool, and I'm no wiser than before.** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Faust in Faust, Part One (1808), scene «Night».
6. **That I may know what holds the world together at its core.** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Faust, Part One, scene «Night».
7. **Do you know the land where the lemon trees bloom?** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Mignon's song in «Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship» (1795), about Italy.
8. **Two souls, alas, dwell within my breast.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Faust, Part One, scene «Outside the City Gate».
9. **I am the spirit that always denies!** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Mephistopheles introducing himself in Faust, Part One.
10. **If ever I say to the passing moment: «Linger on, you are so fair!»** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — The pact between Faust and Mephistopheles in Faust, Part One.
11. **Man errs as long as he strives.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — The Lord in the «Prologue in Heaven» of Faust, Part One.
12. **Whoever strives with all his might, him we can redeem.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — The angels in Faust, Part Two (1832).
13. **Let man be noble, helpful and good!** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — The poem «The Divine» (1783).
14. **The spirits that I summoned, I now cannot get rid of.** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — The ballad «The Sorcerer's Apprentice» (1797).
15. **The eternal feminine draws us on high.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The last line of Faust, Part Two (1832).
16. **Here I sit, shaping people in my image.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — From the hymn “Prometheus” (1774, printed 1785).
17. **A name is sound and smoke.** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Faust to Gretchen in Faust, Part One.
18. **More light!** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — His last words on 22 March 1832, as traditionally reported.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.