quote · Source-linked selection
That thought I regard as true which is fruitful to myself, which is connected with the rest of my thoughts, and at the same time helps me on. Now it is not only possible, but natural, that such a thought should not connect itself with the mind of another, nor help him on ... consequently he will regard it as false. Once we are thoroughly convinced of this, we shall never enter upon controversies.
That thought I regard as true which is fruitful to myself, which is connected with the rest of my thoughts, and at the same time helps me on. Now it is not only possible, but natural, that such a thought should not connect itself with the mind of another, nor help him on ... consequently he will regard it as false. Once we are thoroughly convinced of this, we shall never enter upon controversies.
Approximate author period: c. 1790 AD · early modern
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Goethe
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1790 AD · early modern
author lifetime midpoint (1749–1832)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- Dictionary of Quotations (1893) (1893 AD)
Printed citation: Goethe. · page_414
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
The voice behind the words.
Listed in the author section of Bartlett’s ninth-edition anthology, in the linked 1905 printing. Dates reflect that historical edition and may differ from modern scholarship.
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