“He alone is great and happy who fills his own station of independence, and has neither to command nor to obey.”
So gewiß ist der allein glücklich und groß, der weder zu herrschen noch zu gehorchen braucht, um etwas zu sein! <br class="br">Alternative translation: So certain is it that he alone is great and happy, who requires neither to command nor to obey, in order to secure his being of some importance in the world. <br class="br">Götz von Berlichingen, Act I (1773), p. 39 <br class="br">Source: Goethe’s Works, vol. 3, Götz Von Berlichingen (With the Iron Hand) http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=2113&layout=html#chapter_164458 <br class="br">Source: Beautiful thoughts from German and Spanish authors, by C. T. Ramage (1868) https://archive.org/stream/beautifulthough00unkngoog#page/n112/mode/2up
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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe185
German writer, artist, and politician 1749–1832Related quotes
“He has great tranquility of heart who cares neither for the praises nor the fault-finding of men.”
Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) French writer
Magnam habet cordis tranquillitatem, qui nec laudes curat, nec vituperia. — Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of Christ (ca. 1418), book II, ch. VI, paragraph 2.
Misattributed
“The Great Filling Station Holdup”
Jimmy Buffett (1946) American singer–songwriter and businessman
Song lyrics, A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (1973)
“He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command”
Niccolo Machiavelli book The Prince
Source: The Prince
“He who does not fill his world with phantoms remains alone.”
Antonio Porchia (1885–1968) Italian Argentinian poet
Quien no llena su mundo de fantasmas, se queda solo.
Voces (1943)
John Dryden (1631–1700) English poet and playwright of the XVIIth century
Book III, Ode 29, lines 65–68.
Imitation of Horace (1685)
“He who cannot obey himself will be commanded. That is the nature of living creatures.”
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist