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About this quote

What does it mean?
Repeated phrases become fixed beliefs that can stiffen thinking.
In plain terms
Saying something often turns it into a rigid conviction.
What can you take from it?
Question repeated slogans to keep thinking flexible.

Where it applies

  • media consumption
  • education

Putting it to work

  • challenge clichés
  • encourage critical thinking

Questions to consider

  • How does repetition shape our worldview?
  • When does a slogan become harmful?

Another view

Some repetition is needed for learning.

More from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  1. The man is born with a talent which he has meant to use finds his greatest happiness in using it.

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  2. The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers and cities; but to know someone here and there who thinks and feels with us, and though distant, …

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  3. The decline in literature indicates a decline in the nation. The two keep pace in their downward tendency.

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