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He who moves not forward goes backward.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and Dorothea

Literature

The story behind the card

Hermann and Dorothea (1797) is a verse epic by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), set in a small German town as refugees from the French Revolutionary Wars pass through. In the third canto, Hermann's father, an innkeeper, urges his son to show more ambition and praises towns that keep improving. He introduces the line as the true little saying of the ancients: ‘Wer nicht vorwärts geht, der kommt zurücke!’ Goethe did not coin it; he gave an existing proverb to one of his characters.

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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann ile Dorothea

Hermann ile Dorothea (1797), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe'nin (1749–1832) manzum destanıdır; Fransız Devrimi savaşlarından kaçan mültecilerin içinden geçtiği küçük bir Alman kasabasında geçer. Üçüncü bölümde Hermann'ın hancı babası, oğlundan daha fazla hırs bekler ve sürekli gelişen kasabaları över. Sözü de kendi düşüncesi olarak değil, “eskilerin o doğru sözü” diye sunar: “Wer nicht vorwärts geht, der kommt zurücke!” Yani Goethe bu sözü icat etmedi; zaten var olan bir atasözünü bir karakterinin ağzından söyletti.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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