“Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
Often cited as the one of the most brilliant men of his time, Goethe excelled in literature, philosophy and science. Although best know for his seminal poem “Faust,” which tells the story of a man who sells his soul to the devil, Goethe made significant contributions to the theories of both evolution and the perception of color. Politically conservative in an age of revolution, he was a principal advisor to the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar. Goethe’s affect on early Romanticism and Humanism is hard to overstate.
Click the pic for his wikipedia page-
Good Morning Gloucester 
Greg –
I enjoy the quotes you find and the information about the person you include with them. Thanks!
Mary
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Sorry, but that’s not a Goethe line. It’s Basil King, a Canadian author. And it’s not an accurate quote. It is, however, misattributed to Goethe. “Go at it boldly, and you’ll find unexpected forces closing round you and coming to your aid,” is the actual quote.
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It is a Goethe quote … Basil King was a spiritual seeker and during his illness became a spiritual writer. His spiritual readings assuredly led him to Goethe’s writings and he was undoubtedly influenced by the author…King’s quote of “Go at it boldly, and you’ll find unexpected forces closing round you and coming to your aid,” was several generations later and he has since been misattributed the credit of Goethe’s “Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.”
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Thanks I didn’t know that. So Gothe took it from him i guess?
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I think that Goethe would have written it in German.
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I know from my life, this quote speaks truth.
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Many years ago, I was inspired by that quote and made a life-changing decision based on that belief or hope. As the years went by and I continued on that chosen path that put me in some danger, I would occasionally wonder: Where all all those forces that were supposed to come to my aid because I couldn’t see any. Then, one day, it hit me. A mighty force did come to my aid. I just did not recognize it because it came on very slowly. What was the force? It is hard to put into words but it was a clarity of thought about what I was trying to accomplish and a better understanding about how to communicate my vision and persuade others that using violence, including lawful violence, against peaceful human beings is fundamentally wrong.
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