Quote of the Day (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, on Work and the Human Race)

"The human race is a monotonous affair. Most people spend the greatest part of their time working in order to live, and what little freedom remains so fills them with fear that they seek out any and every means to be rid of it." — German man of letters Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe died at age 82 in Weimar, in what was then known as the German Confederation, on this date in 1832, of apparent heart failure. His range of interests and talents was astonishing—not only was he a poet, playwright (Faust), novelist (The Sorrows of Young Werther),critic and memoirist, but also a civil servant and even botanist.  His influence on modern culture—especially Germany’s—was enormous.