Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Only Law Can Give Us Freedom.

By Rich Kozlovich 

Recently I came across this article,  What Is Anarchy? Definition and Examples, showing a woman holding a sign quoting Johan Wolfgang von Goethe saying:

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free".

The author went on to say:

• Anarchy is social and political theory calling for the replacement of government rule with a system of self-government and unlimited individual liberty.
• Anarchy is also used negatively as a term describing violence, chaos, and social collapse.
• The two main schools of anarchist thought are individualist and social.
• Individualist anarchists oppose all forms of government authority and demand unchecked individual freedom.
• Social anarchists that political power, economic resources, and wealth should be shared equally by all members of the society.

I decided to go back and look up some Johan Wolfgang von Goether quotes.  Enjoy: 

• I always had an aversion to your apostles of freedom, each but sought for himself freedom to do what he liked.
• Whatever liberates our spirit, without also giving us mastery over ourselves, is destructive. Only law can give us freedom. 
• Freedom consists not in refusing to recognize anything above us, but in respecting something which is above us; for by respecting it, we raise ourselves to it, and, by our very acknowledgment, prove that we bear within ourselves what is higher, and are worthy to be on a level with it. Whatever liberates our spirit, without also giving us mastery over ourselves, is destructive.  The best government is that which teaches us to govern ourselves.
  
• This is the highest wisdom that I own; freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew.  
• “A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.” “You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.” “There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.” “Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at.”
• “We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.” 
•  “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” “There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity.”

There are a couple of important points to be gleaned from these quotes, and others not listed here.  He clearly believed there was a higher power that was the creator of righteous values and character.  He also recognized that freedom without discipline is disastrous.   Not only for the individual, but for the continued stability of society.  

It's also clear to me that he believed ignorance and a lack of discipline go hand in hand, and all we see going on now is evidence of just how true that is.

Final take away.  Nothing's new under the heavens: So why do we have to keep learning the same lessons over and over again?  Someone once said "it isn't true that history keeps repeating itself.  We just fail to learn the lessons of history." I disagree.  What we fail to do is teach the lessons of history!

What we all need to do now is seek the answer to this one question:  Why?