“Though you're a whole world, Rome, still, without Love,
The world isn't the world, and Rome can't be Rome.”

—  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , book Roman Elegies

Elegy 1
Roman Elegies (1789)
Context: I'm gazing at church and palace, ruin and column,
Like a serious man making sensible use of a journey,
But soon it will happen, and all will be one vast temple,
Love's temple, receiving its new initiate.
Though you're a whole world, Rome, still, without Love,
The world isn't the world, and Rome can't be Rome.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe photo
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 185
German writer, artist, and politician 1749–1832

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