Quotes from Faust, Part Two

15 notable lines from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · 1832

The Eternal Feminine draws us onward.

Chorus Mysticus, Faust Part 2

Quotations follow the David Luke translation (Oxford University Press, 2008) — our recommended edition.

  1. All things transitory / But as symbols are sent: / Earth's insufficiency / Here grows to Event: / The Indescribable, / Here it is done: / The Woman-soul leadeth us / Upward and on!

    Chorus Mysticus, closing lines, Act V · trans. Bayard Taylor

  2. Whoever strives with all his might, that man we can redeem.

    Angels, Faust Part 2

  3. Stay, you are so beautiful!

    Faust, Faust Part 2

  4. The Eternal Feminine draws us on.

    Closing line, "Das Ewig-Weibliche zieht uns hinan," Act V

  5. Then dared I hail the Moment fleeing: / "Ah, still delay—thou art so fair!"

    Faust's final speech, Act V · trans. Bayard Taylor

  6. He who strives on and lives to strive / Can earn redemption still.

    The Angels bearing Faust's soul, "Wer immer strebend sich bemüht, den können wir erlösen," Act V · trans. David Luke

  7. The deed is everything, the glory nothing.

    Faust, "Das Tun ist alles, nicht der Ruhm," Act IV

  8. Such paper, 'stead of gold and jewelry, / So handy is — one knows one's property.

    Mephistopheles on paper money, Act I · trans. Bayard Taylor

  9. I love those who yearn for the impossible.

    Manto, Classical Walpurgis Night, Act II

  10. Law is mighty, mightier necessity.

    Mephistopheles, "Gesetz ist mächtig, mächtiger ist die Not," Act I

  11. What dazzles, for the Moment spends its spirit: / What's genuine, shall Posterity inherit.

    The Poet, Mummenschanz (Masquerade), Act I · trans. Bayard Taylor

  12. Born to see, / Sworn to behold, / To the watch-tower bound, / The world I love.

    Lynceus the watchman, "Zum Sehen geboren, zum Schauen bestellt," Act V

  13. O happy eyes, / Whatever you have seen, / Let it be as it may, / How fair it has been!

    Lynceus the watchman, "Ihr glücklichen Augen," Act V · trans. Richard Stokes

  14. Mightiest empress of the world, / Let me, in the blue / Pavilion of the sky unfurl'd, / Thy mystery view!

    Doctor Marianus to the Mater Gloriosa, Act V · trans. John Oxenford