Maxims and Reflections

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781514239520
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	06/05/2015
Pages:	78
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.16(d)

About the Author

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in Frankfurt-on-Main in 1749. He studied at Leipzig, where he showed interest in the occult, and at Strassburg, where Herder introduced him to Shakespeare’s works and to folk poetry. He produced some essays and lyrical verse, and at twenty-two wrote Götz von Berlichingen, a play which brought him national fame and established him in the current Sturm und Drang movement. This was followed by the novel The Sorrows of Young Werther in 1774, which was an even greater success.Goethe began work on Faust, and Egmont, another tragedy before being invited to join the government of Weimar. His interest in the classical world led him to leave suddenly for Italy in 1786 and the Italian Journey recounts his travels there. Iphigenia in Tauris and Torquato Tasso, classical dramas, were written at this time. Returning to Weimar, Goethe started the second part of Faust, encouraged by Schiller. In 1806 he married Christiane Vulpius. During this late period he finished his series of Wilhelm Master books and wrote many other works, including The Oriental Divan (1819). He also directed the State Theatre and worked on scientific theories in evolutionary botany, anatomy and color. Goethe completed Faust in 1832, just before he died.

Table of Contents

Maxims and ReflectionsPreface
Introduction
Further Reading
A Note on the Text
FROM ELECTIVE AFFINITIES (1809)
From Ottilie's Diary

FROM ART AND ANTIQUITY
Vol. I, issue 3: Naïvety and Humour (1818)
Vol. II, issue 3: Matters of Serious Moment (1820)
Vol. III, issue 1: Own and Adopted Ideas in Proverbial Formulation (1821)
Vol. IV, issue 2: Own and Assimilated Material (1823)
Vol. V, issue 1: Individual Points (1824)
Vol. V, issue 2: Individual Points (1825)
Vol. V, issue 3: Individual Points (1826)
Vol. VI, issue 1: [untitled] (1827)

FROM THE PERIODICAL ISSUES ON MORPHOLOGY
Vol. I, issue 4: [untitled] (1822)

FROM THE PERIODICAL ISSUES ON THE NATURAL SCIENCES
Vol. II, issue 1: Old Ideas, Almost out of Date (1823)

FROM WILHELM MEISTER'S JOURNEYMAN YEARS (1829)
Thoughs about Art, Ethics and Nature in the Spirit of the Travellers
From Makarie's Archive

POSTHUMOUS
On Literature and Life
On Art and Art History: Aphorisms for the Attention of Friends and Opponents
On Nature and Natural Science
Sketchy, Doubtful, Incomplete Jottings
Addenda from the Posthumous Papers

Notes