Select quotes from Goethe's Faust, Part I
“-You mean to say you’re best friends with the Devil
And yet you’re frightened of a little fire?”
“I heard it in full detail.
Ah, Doctor, you have just been catechized."
____________________________________________________
"A shudder wrenches me, tear follows tear;
The stern heart feels itself grow soft and mild.
What I possess seems to me far away,
And what has gone becomes reality."
"The ladies show their dresses and themselves,
And put on their own play for nothing."
“Just try to mystify mankind,
To satisfy them is too difficult-
Now what’s got you? Ecstasy or anguish?”
“The power of Man, incarnate in the poet.”
“You meet by chance, feel something, linger,
And bit by bit you get involved:
Happiness increases, is endangered-
You’re in ecstasy, then in anguish-
And before you know it, it’s a novel.”
“What good is talking about inspiration?
If you wait for it, it never comes.”
“Take the sun and moon right out of the sky
And don’t economize on stars!”
“A man must make mistakes, as long as he keeps trying.”
“Thank you for that; I’ve never had much taste
For dead men-it’s the fresh, fat cheeks I love.”
“I like to see the old boy now and then
And do my best to stay on friendly terms.
It’s really decent of so grand a lord
To talk in such a human way with the Devil.”
“But the cook put the poison out one night,
And around the rat the world grew as tight
As if he had love in his belly.”
“If you ask me, they’re of noble blood,
They look so haughty and dissatisfied.”
“The queen was gnawed and chewed and stung
And didn’t dare complain;”
“Long live liberty! And long live wine!”
“A real German can’t endure the French,
And yet he’s glad to get to drink their wine.”
“Help! Fire! Help! Hell’s on fire!”
“If I just had a little cash
I’d have some brains besides.”
“This is the world:
It rises and falls
And never stops rolling.
It rings like glass-
How soon it’s smashed!
There’s nothing inside.
It’s so bright here
And brighter there:
‘I am alive!’
My beloved son,
Keep away, keep away!
Alas, you must die!
It is made of clay.
It will smash to pieces.”
“The world is so enlightened, nowadays,
That even the Devil has been civilized:”
“You needn’t doubt my noble blood:
See, this is the coat of arms I bear!”
[At this point, the Devil flips off the witch.]
“Fool or wise man, you’re defenseless
Against what’s absolutely senseless:”
“My friend, with that drink in your belly,
You’ll see a Helen in every housewife.”
“You cannot rush things with this little beauty.
She’s nothing we can take by storm-
We’ll have to stoop to strategy.”
“It was mere lust that summoned me,
And now I lie swooning in a dream of love.
Are we the toy of every breath of air?”
“That would win you a very different woman.
Still, girls are girls, a game’s a game.”
“He saw it plunge down, drink,
Deep under the wave it sank.
His eyes closed, it was the last
Drop that he ever drank.”
“Poor girl, what good is it to be beautiful?
Oh, it’s all very well, all very fine,
And yet who cares about it, really?
They praise you half in pity.
It’s money they look out for, money they hold on to-
It’s awful to be poor!”
“By all scorned love! By Hell’s own element!
If only I knew something worse to curse by!”
“I’d hand myself right over to the Devil
This minute, if I weren’t the Devil myself.”
“Such a lovesick fool would take the sun,
Moon, stars, and set them off like fireworks
If some afternoon his girl felt bored.”
“Custom or not, it happens just the same.”
“And now if I were in your shoes
I’d mourn my husband one chaste year
And meanwhile hunt for someone new.”
“If only he hadn’t been so fond
Of foreign lands and foreign wines
And foreign women-and those accursed dice.”
“With what a pang one leaves so many places,
And yet one simply cannot stay.”
“Believe me, dearest, what men call intelligent
Often is pedantry and self-conceit.”
“Oh, sir, it wasn’t all a bed of roses!
But food and rest taste that much better.”
“We’re really up against it, we poor women:
A bachelor’s a hard thing to convert.”
“And really I was angry with myself
Because I wasn’t angrier with you.”
“He fans within my breast a savage fire
For that bewitching image of a woman;
So from desire I stagger to enjoyment
And then, enjoying, languish for desire.”
“I wish that you had something more to do
Thank bother me on one of my good days.”
“Sometimes she’s gay, sometimes she’s sad,
Sometimes she’s cried herself dry.
And then again she’s quiet-or she seems so-
And, always, she is sick with love.”
“What do you want? She thinks you’ve run away,
And, more or less, it’s what you’ve done.”
“Get out, you pimp!”
“We want you in her bedroom, not your grave.”
“Call it Love! Happiness! Soul! God!
I have no name for it.
Feeling is everything:
The name is sound and smoke,
Overclouding Heaven’s flame.”
“When he is there it overwhelms me so
I feel that I don’t love you any more;”
“You supersensual sensualist you,
A little maid has led you by the nose.”
“She feels I’m certainly an evil genius,
May be, perhaps, the Devil himself.”
And yet you’re frightened of a little fire?”
“I heard it in full detail.
Ah, Doctor, you have just been catechized."
____________________________________________________
"A shudder wrenches me, tear follows tear;
The stern heart feels itself grow soft and mild.
What I possess seems to me far away,
And what has gone becomes reality."
"The ladies show their dresses and themselves,
And put on their own play for nothing."
“Just try to mystify mankind,
To satisfy them is too difficult-
Now what’s got you? Ecstasy or anguish?”
“The power of Man, incarnate in the poet.”
“You meet by chance, feel something, linger,
And bit by bit you get involved:
Happiness increases, is endangered-
You’re in ecstasy, then in anguish-
And before you know it, it’s a novel.”
“What good is talking about inspiration?
If you wait for it, it never comes.”
“Take the sun and moon right out of the sky
And don’t economize on stars!”
“A man must make mistakes, as long as he keeps trying.”
“Thank you for that; I’ve never had much taste
For dead men-it’s the fresh, fat cheeks I love.”
“I like to see the old boy now and then
And do my best to stay on friendly terms.
It’s really decent of so grand a lord
To talk in such a human way with the Devil.”
“But the cook put the poison out one night,
And around the rat the world grew as tight
As if he had love in his belly.”
“If you ask me, they’re of noble blood,
They look so haughty and dissatisfied.”
“The queen was gnawed and chewed and stung
And didn’t dare complain;”
“Long live liberty! And long live wine!”
“A real German can’t endure the French,
And yet he’s glad to get to drink their wine.”
“Help! Fire! Help! Hell’s on fire!”
“If I just had a little cash
I’d have some brains besides.”
“This is the world:
It rises and falls
And never stops rolling.
It rings like glass-
How soon it’s smashed!
There’s nothing inside.
It’s so bright here
And brighter there:
‘I am alive!’
My beloved son,
Keep away, keep away!
Alas, you must die!
It is made of clay.
It will smash to pieces.”
“The world is so enlightened, nowadays,
That even the Devil has been civilized:”
“You needn’t doubt my noble blood:
See, this is the coat of arms I bear!”
[At this point, the Devil flips off the witch.]
“Fool or wise man, you’re defenseless
Against what’s absolutely senseless:”
“My friend, with that drink in your belly,
You’ll see a Helen in every housewife.”
“You cannot rush things with this little beauty.
She’s nothing we can take by storm-
We’ll have to stoop to strategy.”
“It was mere lust that summoned me,
And now I lie swooning in a dream of love.
Are we the toy of every breath of air?”
“That would win you a very different woman.
Still, girls are girls, a game’s a game.”
“He saw it plunge down, drink,
Deep under the wave it sank.
His eyes closed, it was the last
Drop that he ever drank.”
“Poor girl, what good is it to be beautiful?
Oh, it’s all very well, all very fine,
And yet who cares about it, really?
They praise you half in pity.
It’s money they look out for, money they hold on to-
It’s awful to be poor!”
“By all scorned love! By Hell’s own element!
If only I knew something worse to curse by!”
“I’d hand myself right over to the Devil
This minute, if I weren’t the Devil myself.”
“Such a lovesick fool would take the sun,
Moon, stars, and set them off like fireworks
If some afternoon his girl felt bored.”
“Custom or not, it happens just the same.”
“And now if I were in your shoes
I’d mourn my husband one chaste year
And meanwhile hunt for someone new.”
“If only he hadn’t been so fond
Of foreign lands and foreign wines
And foreign women-and those accursed dice.”
“With what a pang one leaves so many places,
And yet one simply cannot stay.”
“Believe me, dearest, what men call intelligent
Often is pedantry and self-conceit.”
“Oh, sir, it wasn’t all a bed of roses!
But food and rest taste that much better.”
“We’re really up against it, we poor women:
A bachelor’s a hard thing to convert.”
“And really I was angry with myself
Because I wasn’t angrier with you.”
“He fans within my breast a savage fire
For that bewitching image of a woman;
So from desire I stagger to enjoyment
And then, enjoying, languish for desire.”
“I wish that you had something more to do
Thank bother me on one of my good days.”
“Sometimes she’s gay, sometimes she’s sad,
Sometimes she’s cried herself dry.
And then again she’s quiet-or she seems so-
And, always, she is sick with love.”
“What do you want? She thinks you’ve run away,
And, more or less, it’s what you’ve done.”
“Get out, you pimp!”
“We want you in her bedroom, not your grave.”
“Call it Love! Happiness! Soul! God!
I have no name for it.
Feeling is everything:
The name is sound and smoke,
Overclouding Heaven’s flame.”
“When he is there it overwhelms me so
I feel that I don’t love you any more;”
“You supersensual sensualist you,
A little maid has led you by the nose.”
“She feels I’m certainly an evil genius,
May be, perhaps, the Devil himself.”