--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All that is transitory is but a metaphor." description: "\"All that is transitory is but a metaphor.\" — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_metaphor_all-that-is-transitory-is-but-a-metaphor_2515678.jpg" --- # All that is transitory is but a metaphor. ![“All that is transitory is but a metaphor.” quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_metaphor_all-that-is-transitory-is-but-a-metaphor_2515678.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_metaphor_all-that-is-transitory-is-but-a-metaphor_2515678.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_metaphor_all-that-is-transitory-is-but-a-metaphor_2515678.jpg) > “All that is transitory is but a metaphor.” [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. All temporary things are symbolic representations, not ultimate reality. **In simple terms:** Metaphors mask deeper truths. Key Takeaway Look beyond surface meanings. Themes impermanence symbolism perception Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - art criticism - spiritual practice - daily observations - teaching Key Concepts existentialism literary metaphor Questions to Reflect On - What does this metaphor reveal about your life? - How do you distinguish symbol from substance? A Different Perspective Metaphors can oversimplify complex realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Metaphor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor/) ## Related quotes > [Toleration ought in reality to be merely a transitory mood. It must lead to recognition. To tolerate is to affront.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/toleration-ought-in-reality-to-be-merely-a-transitory-mood-it-must/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“I pity those who make much ado about the transitory nature of all things and are lost in the contemplation of earthly vanity: are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-pity-those-who-make-much-ado-about-the-transitory-nature-of-all/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [All things are only transitory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/all-things-are-only-transitory/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Everything transitory is but an image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/everything-transitory-is-but-an-image/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [In the end, the only events of my life worth telling are those when the imperishable world erupted into this transitory one All other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/in-the-end-the-only-events-of-my-life-worth-telling-are-those-when/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [Above the titles of wife and mother, which, although dear, are transitory and accidental, there is the title human being, which precedes and out-ranks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-livermore/above-the-titles-of-wife-and-mother-which-although-dear-are/) Mary Livermore > [The images evoked by words being independent of their sense, they vary from age to age and from people to people, the formulas remaining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/the-images-evoked-by-words-being-independent-of-their-sense-they-vary/) [Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/) > [I cannot conceive of a personal God who would directly influence the actions of individuals, or would directly sit in judgment on creatures of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/i-cannot-conceive-of-a-personal-god-who-would-directly-influence-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [ “They \[progressives\] are men and women who tend to believe that the human being is perfectible and social progress predictable, and that the instrument… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/they-progressives-are-men-and-women-who-tend-to-believe-that-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Modernity signifies the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent, the half of art of which the other half is the eternal and the immutable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/modernity-signifies-the-transitory-the-fugitive-the-contingent-the/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [If you make provision for the desires of the flesh and bear a grudge against your neighbor on account of something transitory, you worship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maximus-the-confessor/if-you-make-provision-for-the-desires-of-the-flesh-and-bear-a-grudge/) [Maximus the Confessor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maximus-the-confessor/) > [Every design is a rigorous attempt to capture a concrete moment of a transitory image in all its nuances. The extent to which this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvaro-siza-vieira/every-design-is-a-rigorous-attempt-to-capture-a-concrete-moment-of-a/) Alvaro Siza Vieira > [The glory of the world is transitory, and we should not measure our lives by it, but by the choice we make to follow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-glory-of-the-world-is-transitory-and-we-should-not-measure-our/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Human beings affix themselves to things that are of little or no importance. They affix themselves to the transitory, to things that are impermanent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/human-beings-affix-themselves-to-things-that-are-of-little-or-no/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You are quite, quite wrong if you think that ... I find your happiness painful. What matters is that happiness - the golden day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/you-are-quite-quite-wrong-if-you-think-that-i-find-your-happiness/) [Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/) ## More by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I never believed in trying to do anything. Whatever I set out to do I found I had already accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-never-believed-in-trying-to-do-anything-whatever-i-set-out-to-do-i/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [All lyrical work must, as a whole, be perfectly intelligible, but in some particulars a little unintelligible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/all-lyrical-work-must-as-a-whole-be-perfectly-intelligible-but-in/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/we-know-accurately-only-when-we-know-little-with-knowledge-doubt/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-is-easier-to-perceive-error-than-to-find-truth-for-the-former-lies/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [There is no patriotic art and no patriotic science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/there-is-no-patriotic-art-and-no-patriotic-science/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The connoisseur of art must be able to appreciate what is simply beautiful, but the common run of people is satisfied with ornament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-connoisseur-of-art-must-be-able-to-appreciate-what-is-simply/) [Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Let us not dream that reason can ever be popular. Passions, emotions, may be made popular; but reason remains ever the property of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/let-us-not-dream-that-reason-can-ever-be-popular-passions-emotions/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Our foibles are really what make us lovable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/our-foibles-are-really-what-make-us-lovable/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Instruction does much, but encouragement everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/instruction-does-much-but-encouragement-everything/) [Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Giving is the business of the rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/giving-is-the-business-of-the-rich/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Just begin and the mind grows heated; continue, and the task will be completed!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/just-begin-and-the-mind-grows-heated-continue-and-the-task-will-be/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I look upon all four Gospels as thoroughly genuine, for there shines forth from them the reflected splendor of a sublimity proceeding from Jesus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-look-upon-all-four-gospels-as-thoroughly-genuine-for-there-shines/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Whatever we may say against collections, which present authors in a disjointed form, they nevertheless bring about many excellent results. We are not always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/whatever-we-may-say-against-collections-which-present-authors-in-a/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) [Explore all 2,052 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## More Metaphor quotes > [I think zombies have always been an easy metaphor for hard times. Because they're this big, faceless, brainless group of evil things that will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-grahame-smith/i-think-zombies-have-always-been-an-easy-metaphor-for-hard-times/) [Seth Grahame-Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-grahame-smith/) > [Helvetica is the jeans, and Univers the dinner jacket. Helvetica is here to stay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-frutiger/helvetica-is-the-jeans-and-univers-the-dinner-jacket-helvetica-is/) [Adrian Frutiger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-frutiger/) > [“No algorithm exists for the metaphor, nor can a metaphor be produced by means of a computer’s precise instructions, no matter what the volume…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/no-algorithm-exists-for-the-metaphor-nor-can-a-metaphor-be-produced/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“Despite which, Charlie seems doomed to stumble around in the dark, clutching pieces of a puzzle he still can't see.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/despite-which-charlie-seems-doomed-to-stumble-around-in-the-dark/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [I feel as much of a stud as... I can't come up with a metaphor. That's how lacking in studliness I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-feel-as-much-of-a-stud-as-i-can-t-come-up-with-a-metaphor-that-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Because you continue to inhabit and believe your metaphors, you cannot see what is true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-p-young/because-you-continue-to-inhabit-and-believe-your-metaphors-you-cannot/) [William P. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-p-young/) > [“The bag contained a pair of white cotton gloves stained the color of age.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-bag-contained-a-pair-of-white-cotton-gloves-stained-the-color-of/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“People think blood red, but blood don't got no colour. Not when blood wash the floor she lying on as she scream for that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlon-james/people-think-blood-red-but-blood-don-t-got-no-colour-not-when-blood/) [Marlon James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlon-james/) > [You know what’s a great metaphor for love? Sleeping beauty. Because you have to plow through this incredible thicket of thorns in order to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/you-know-what-s-a-great-metaphor-for-love-sleeping-beauty-because-you/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [There's something about the superheroes and the idea behind their relationship with humans, whether it's a metaphor for the better part of ourselves, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clark-gregg/there-s-something-about-the-superheroes-and-the-idea-behind-their/) [Clark Gregg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clark-gregg/) > [The sense of tragedy - according to Aristotle - comes, ironically enough, not from the protagonist's weak points but from his good qualities. Do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-sense-of-tragedy-according-to-aristotle-comes-ironically-enough/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I explain at the parties that I believe knitting is a transformative and intriguing act that can change the life and brain of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-pearl-mcphee/i-explain-at-the-parties-that-i-believe-knitting-is-a-transformative/) [Stephanie Pearl-McPhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-pearl-mcphee/) > [I was really interested in this ability for others to create virtual memories for us. In "The Cartographers" I explore this through Adam Woods,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-weinstein/i-was-really-interested-in-this-ability-for-others-to-create-virtual/) [Alexander Weinstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-weinstein/) > [Metaphor isn't just a fancy turn of speech. It shapes our thoughts and feelings, reaches out to grasp new experience, and even binds our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-richardson/metaphor-isn-t-just-a-fancy-turn-of-speech-it-shapes-our-thoughts-and/) [James Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-richardson/) > [“I am knee deep in sea water now, feeling the energy of the tidal waves as they roll inwards towards the shore. A tide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-l-marshall/i-am-knee-deep-in-sea-water-now-feeling-the-energy-of-the-tidal-waves/) [Susan L. Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-l-marshall/) [Browse all 1,548 Metaphor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All that is transitory is but a metaphor.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/all-that-is-transitory-is-but-a-metaphor/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Metaphor" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/all-that-is-transitory-is-but-a-metaphor/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_metaphor_all-that-is-transitory-is-but-a-metaphor_2515678.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_metaphor_all-that-is-transitory-is-but-a-metaphor_2515678.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_metaphor_all-that-is-transitory-is-but-a-metaphor_2515678.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All that is transitory is but a metaphor.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Johann Wolfgang von Goethe", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "All that is transitory is but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/all-that-is-transitory-is-but-a-metaphor/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/all-that-is-transitory-is-but-a-metaphor/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```