All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quality of literature reflects the overall cultural and moral health of a society.
This quote suggests that when literature and the arts are neglected or deteriorate, it signals a broader moral and intellectual decline within a nation. Goethe implies that literature plays a vital role in shaping a nation's values and that its decline is a warning sign of deeper societal issues.
Themes
LiteratureDeclineNationCultureSociety
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about preserving culture, one might say, 'As Goethe once stated, the decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation.'
More from Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
All quotes βDestiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us something beyond our wishes.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From its springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior.
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I am amazed to see how deliberately I have entangled myself step by step. To have seen my position so clearly, and yet to have acted so like a child!
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Seldom in the business and transactions of ordinary life, do we find the sympathy we want.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Know thyself? If I knew myself I would run away.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
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