Johann Wolfgang von Goethe — a remark

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“One sees only what one knows. In truth, one perceives only what one already knows and understands.”

Original: Man sieht nur, was man weiß. Eigentlich: Man erblickt nur, was man schon weiß und versteht. — Perception is shaped by knowledge, suggesting that understanding changes what the world allows us to see. · Letter to Friedrich von Müller, 24 April 1819 (German)

About Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

28 August 1749–22 March 1832

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, born 28 August 1749 in Frankfurt am Main and dead 22 March 1832 in Weimar, became during his own lifetime a European institution: poet, dramatist, novelist, critic, civil servant, theater director, scientific investigator, memoirist, and theorist of culture. To call him Germany’s greatest…

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