Nothing is more frightful than imagination without taste.
[Es ist nichts furchterlicher als Einbildungskraft ohne Geschmack.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Sprüche in Prosa: Maximen und Reflexionen [Proverbs in Prose: Maxims and Reflections] (1833) [tr. Saunders (1893), #489]
(Source)
From Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years (1829). (Source (German)). Alternate translations:There is nothing so horrible as imagination devoid of taste.
[tr. Rönnfeldt (1900)]There is nothing more awful than imagination devoid of taste.
[tr. Stopp (1995), #507]There is nothing more fearful than imagination without taste.
[E.g. (1868)]
Quotations about:
grossness
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