Higher aims are in themselves more valuable, even if unfulfilled, than lower ones quite attained.
[Die höheren Forderungen sind an sich schon schikbarer, auch unerfüllt, als niedrige, ganz erfüllte.]
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), “Literature and Art,” #500]
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(Source (German)). Alternate translations:Aims of a higher order, even though they be not fulfilled, are in themselves more valuable than lower ones entirely fulfilled.
[tr. Rönnfeldt (1900)]Higher demands, even unfulfilled, are in themselves more worthy of esteem than lower demands completely fulfilled.
[tr. Stopp (1995), "Posthumous," #1085]
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The most effective way to silence our guilty conscience is to convince ourselves and others that those we have sinned against are indeed depraved creatures, deserving every punishment, even extermination. We cannot pity those we have wronged, nor can we be indifferent toward them. We must hate and persecute them or else leave the door open to self-contempt.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 71 (1951)
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