Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Autobiography of Johann Goethe vol 1 1811-1833

The boy, who was compelled to put up with frequent repetitions of the whole matter, was not a little staggered. God, the Creator and Preserver of heaven and earth, whom the explanation of the first article of the creed declared so wise and benignant, having given both the just and the unjust a prey to the same destruction, had not manifested himself by any means in a fatherly character. In vain the young mind strove to resist these impressions. It was the more impossible, as the wise and scripture-learned could not themselves agree as to the light in which such a phenomenon should be regarded.

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe on Earthquake

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The boy, who was compelled to put up with frequent repetitions of the whole matter, was not a little staggered. God, the Creator and Preserver of heaven and earth, whom the explanation of the first article of the creed declared so wise and benignant, having given both the just and the unjust a prey to the same destruction, had not manifested himself by any means in a fatherly character. In vain the young mind strove to resist these impressions. It was the more impossible, as the wise and scripture-learned could not themselves agree as to the light in which such a phenomenon should be regarded." in the context of "Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Autobiography of Johann Goethe vol 1 1811-1833" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Earthquake" (Quotes: (sorted alphabetically by author/source)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

About Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

What you can do, or dream you can, begin it,