God of heaven! and is this the destiny of man? Is he only happy before he has acquired his reason, or after he has lost it?
 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774). copy citation

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Author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Source The Sorrows of Young Werther
Topic reason destiny happiness
Date 1774
Language English
Reference
Note Translated by R. D. Boylan
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2527/2527-h/2527-h.htm

Context

“I was thunderstruck: I placed a piece of money in her hand, and hastened away.
"You were happy!" I exclaimed, as I returned quickly to the town, "'as gay and contented as a man can be!' " God of heaven! and is this the destiny of man? Is he only happy before he has acquired his reason, or after he has lost it? Unfortunate being! And yet I envy your fate: I envy the delusion to which you are a victim. You go forth with joy to gather flowers for your princess,—in winter,—and grieve when you can find none, and cannot understand why they do not grow.” source

Meaning and analysis

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