“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back– Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.
Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”
This quote, which can be found all over the place, was not actually written by Goethe. Well, it’s partly by Goethe, in a way. A variant of the final two sentences has been found in Stevenson’s Home Book of Quotations: “Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Only engage, and then the mind grows heated. Begin it, and the work will be completed.”
These lines are attributed to John Anster in a “very free translation” of Faust from 1835, as in this excerpt from Anster’s translation, where the lines in question are spoken by the “Manager” in the “Prelude at the Theatre”:
“Then indecision brings its own delays,
And days are lost lamenting over lost days.
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute;
What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it;
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.“
In Faust, 214-30, the passage paraphrased by Anster, according to Stuart Atkins’ translation (Goethe. The Collected Works. Vol. 2: Faust I & II. Ed), those lines read:
“This altercation’s gone on long enough,
it’s time I saw some action too!
While you are polishing fine phrases
something useful could be going on.
What’s the point of harping on the proper mood?
It never comes to him who shilly-shallies.
Since you pretend to be a poet,
make poetry obey your will.
You know that what we need
is a strong drink to gulp down fast,
so set to work and brew it!
What’s left undone today, is still not done tomorrow;
to every day there is a use and purpose;
let Resoluteness promptly seize
the forelock of the Possible,
and then, reluctant to let go again,
she’s forced to carry on and be productive.”
Finally, in connection with John Anster’s “inventive paraphrase”, the entire quote seems to be from W. H. Murray in The Scottish Himalaya Expedition, 1951. There the text apparently goes:
“But when I said that nothing had been done I erred in one important matter. We had definitely committed ourselves and were halfway out of our ruts. We had put down our passage money–booked a sailing to Bombay. This may sound too simple, but is great in consequence. Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets:
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!”
So there you have it! This information came from The Goethe Society of North America, where you can find more information about Goethe and his “quotes.”
And no matter where these words originated, they are good ones to keep in mind!