Book #04

Sketchy, Doubtful, Incomplete Jottings by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

A selection of the most insightful maxims and reflections from one of Germany's greatest ever thinkers. 

Sketchy, doubtful, and incomplete indeed.

I've never read Goethe before now, and whilst I'm sure he was a great thinker, this was an awful introduction to his work. Comprised of small quotes lifted from other works, they're given to us piecemeal, with absolutely no context surrounding them. Many are painfully obvious, many make no sense whatsoever; all are entirely forgettable. Even now, I'd be unable to recite one that had had an impact on me.

At least it lives up to the title; a sketchy, doubtful, and incomplete waste of time. I plan to try The Sorrows of Young Werther, and I hope to fare better.