{
  "type": "quote",
  "site": {
    "name": "Leafy Quotes",
    "language": "en",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com"
  },
  "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.",
  "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/maxims-and-reflections/im-sorry-for",
  "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/maxims-and-reflections/im-sorry-for.json",
  "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/maxims-and-reflections/im-sorry-for.md",
  "id": "02abb54b-3e0d-401f-b14a-1ba68f0012be",
  "slug": "im-sorry-for",
  "text": "I'm sorry for people who make a great to-do about the transitory nature of things and get lost in meditations of earthly nothingness. Surely we are here precisely so as to turn what passes into something that endures; but this is possible only if you can appreciate both.",
  "language": "en",
  "author": {
    "name": "Johann Wolfgang von Goethe",
    "slug": "johann-wolfgang-von-goethe",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe"
  },
  "book": {
    "title": "Maxims and Reflections",
    "slug": "maxims-and-reflections",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/maxims-and-reflections"
  },
  "character": null,
  "chapter": null,
  "chapter_parent": null,
  "page": null,
  "verified": false,
  "original": {
    "language": "de",
    "text": "Ich bedauere die Menschen, welche von der Vergänglichkeit der Dinge viel Wesens machen und sich in Betrachtung irdischer Nichtigkeit verlieren. Sind wir ja eben deßhalb da, um das Vergängliche unvergänglich zu machen; das kann ja nur dadurch geschehen, wenn man beides zu schätzen weiß."
  },
  "other_languages": [],
  "topics": [
    {
      "name": "transience",
      "slug": "transience",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/transience"
    }
  ],
  "source": {
    "name": "Wikiquote",
    "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe#Maxims_and_Reflections_(1833)",
    "license": {
      "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
      "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
    }
  },
  "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:15",
  "more_from_book": [
    {
      "id": "d4f049c1-4a27-4b80-a6e4-4c55bc62364a",
      "slug": "the-person-engaged",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/maxims-and-reflections/the-person-engaged",
      "text": "The person engaged in action is always unconscionable; no one except the contemplative has a conscience.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "taking action",
          "slug": "taking-action",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/taking-action"
        },
        {
          "name": "conscience",
          "slug": "conscience",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conscience"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe#Maxims_and_Reflections_(1833)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:15"
    },
    {
      "id": "ca6cebf1-351f-4765-bfd3-740aaf6bed2a",
      "slug": "everything-is-simpler",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/maxims-and-reflections/everything-is-simpler",
      "text": "Everything is simpler than one can imagine, at the same time more involved than can be comprehended.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "simplicity",
          "slug": "simplicity",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/simplicity"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe#Maxims_and_Reflections_(1833)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:15"
    },
    {
      "id": "c08e072f-319f-4155-8c29-c6852eceec05",
      "slug": "modern-poets-put",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/maxims-and-reflections/modern-poets-put",
      "text": "Modern poets put a lot of water into their ink.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "humor",
          "slug": "humor",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor"
        },
        {
          "name": "poetry",
          "slug": "poetry",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poetry"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe#Maxims_and_Reflections_(1833)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:15"
    }
  ]
}