Maxims and Reflections is a collection of Goethe's aphorisms and short prose observations, arranged across themes such as life and character, literature and art, science, and nature. It offers concise, thoughtful reflections rather than a continuous narrative, rewarding listeners who enjoy pausing over ideas and general wisdom.
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Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
THE MAXIMS AND REFLECTIONS OF GOETHE TRANSLATED BY BAILEY SAUNDERS WITH A PREFACE NEW YORK THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1906 Goethe Goethe CONTENTS TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE I II III LIFE AND CHARACTER I II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
LITERATURE AND ART
SCIENCE
NATURE: APHORISMS
INDEX
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
I
The translation of Goethe's "Prose Maxims" now offered to the public is the first attempt that has yet been made to present the greater part of these incomparable sayings in English. In the complete collection they are over a thousand in number, and not more perhaps than a hundred and fifty have already found their way into our language, whether as contributions to magazines here and in America, or in volumes of miscellaneous extract from Goethe's writings. Some are at times quoted as though they were common literary property. To say that they are important as a whole would be a feeble tribute to a work eloquent for itself, and beyond the need of praise; but so deep is the wisdom of these maxims, so wide their reach, so compact a product are they of Goethe's wonderful genius, that it is something of a reproach to literature to find the most of them left untranslated for the sixty years they have been before the world. From one point of view, the neglect they have suffered is in no way surprising: they are too high and severe to be popular so soon; and when they meet with a wide acceptance as with other great works, much of it will rest upon authority. But even for the deeper side of his writings, Goethe has not
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