"For a man to achieve all that is demanded of him he must regard himself as greater than he is"
About this Quote
Self-overestimation, in Goethe's hands, isn't a character flaw; it's the ignition system. "For a man to achieve all that is demanded of him" sets the trap: the world doesn't merely invite effort, it demands it, piling on obligations that outstrip any sober self-assessment. The twist is his proposed remedy: you don't meet those demands by knowing your limits, but by temporarily ignoring them. You must "regard himself as greater than he is" - not because you're secretly a titan, but because the act of reaching requires a kind of productive illusion.
Goethe was writing at the hinge between Enlightenment rationality and Romantic self-making, when the self became a project rather than a given. In that context, the line reads less like motivational poster copy and more like a wry diagnosis of modern striving: society's expectations are so expansive that realism becomes its own form of resignation. Ambition, then, is a psychological technology. You inflate the self to match the scale of the task, and only later do you discover what was fantasy and what was latent capacity.
The subtext carries a warning. This isn't a celebration of arrogance; it's an admission that achievement often depends on a distortion field. If you see yourself exactly as you are - with full clarity about your fear, inexperience, and smallness - you may never start. Goethe gives permission to commit a noble error, to borrow confidence on credit, because the alternative is being crushed by the ledger of what "is demanded."
Goethe was writing at the hinge between Enlightenment rationality and Romantic self-making, when the self became a project rather than a given. In that context, the line reads less like motivational poster copy and more like a wry diagnosis of modern striving: society's expectations are so expansive that realism becomes its own form of resignation. Ambition, then, is a psychological technology. You inflate the self to match the scale of the task, and only later do you discover what was fantasy and what was latent capacity.
The subtext carries a warning. This isn't a celebration of arrogance; it's an admission that achievement often depends on a distortion field. If you see yourself exactly as you are - with full clarity about your fear, inexperience, and smallness - you may never start. Goethe gives permission to commit a noble error, to borrow confidence on credit, because the alternative is being crushed by the ledger of what "is demanded."
Quote Details
| Topic | Confidence |
|---|
More Quotes by Johann
Add to List
