Association with women is the basic element of good manners.
• Maxim 31, trans. Stopp
• Variant translative: Intercourse with women is the element of good manners.
• Maxim 31, trans. Stopp
• Variant translative: Intercourse with women is the element of good manners.
“
Der umgang mit frauen ist das element guter sitten.
• Variant translation: The society of women is the foundation of good manners.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Der umgang mit frauen ist das element guter sitten.
• Variant translation: The society of women is the foundation of good manners." in the context of "Association with women is the basic element of good manners.
• Maxim 31, trans. Stopp
• Variant translative: Intercourse with women is the element of good manners." to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" (Quotes, Maxims and Reflections (1833): Full text in German. Translation by Elisabeth Stopp (Penguin, 1998) follows Max Hecker's canonical German edition (1907). Bailey Saunders' selection, The Maxims and Reflections of Goethe (1893), translates 590 of Goethe's 1413 maxims.)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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