# Quote — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther

> And I have again observed, my dear friend, in this trifling affair, that misunderstandings and neglect occasion more mischief in the world than even malice and wickedness. At all events, the two latter are of less frequent occurrence.

- Author: [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe.md)
- Book: [The Sorrows of Young Werther](https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-sorrows-of-young-werther.md)
- Original (de): Und ich habe, mein Lieber, wieder bei diesem kleinen Geschäft gefunden, dass Missverständnisse und Trägheit vielleicht mehr Irrungen in der Welt machen als List und Bosheit. Wenigstens sind die beiden letzteren gewiss seltener.
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Sorrows_of_Young_Werther#Quotes) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-sorrows-of-young-werther/and-i-have

## More from this book

> I know very well that we are not all equal, nor can be so; but it is my opinion that he who deems it important to keep aloof from the so-called rabble in order to maintain their respect is as culpable as a coward who hides himself from his enemy because he fears defeat.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-sorrows-of-young-werther/i-know-very.md)

> I have been more than once intoxicated, my passions have always bordered on extravagance: I am not ashamed to confess it; for I have learned, by my own experience, that all extraordinary men, who have accomplished great and astonishing actions, have ever been decried by the world as drunken or insane.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-sorrows-of-young-werther/i-have-been.md)

> If only, dear friend, these precious treasures, beautiful and priceless as they are, were not so fragile too.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-sorrows-of-young-werther/if-only-dear.md)