--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The worst is that the very hardest…" description: "\"The worst is that the very hardest thinking will not bring thoughts. They must come like good children of God and cry, \"Here we are.\" You expend effort..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_child-of-god_the-worst-is-that-the-very-hardest-think_1949710.jpg" --- # The worst is that the very hardest thinking will not bring… ![“The worst is that the very hardest thinking will not bring thoughts. They must come like good children of God and cry, "Here we are." You expend effort and energy thinking hard. Then, after you have given up, they come sauntering in with their hands in their pockets. If the effort had not been…” quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_child-of-god_the-worst-is-that-the-very-hardest-think_1949710.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_child-of-god_the-worst-is-that-the-very-hardest-think_1949710.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_child-of-god_the-worst-is-that-the-very-hardest-think_1949710.jpg) > “The worst is that the very hardest thinking will not bring thoughts. They must come like good children of God and cry, "Here we are." You expend effort and energy thinking hard. Then, after you have given up, they come sauntering in with their hands in their pockets. If the effort had not been made to open the door, however, who knows when they could have come.” [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. Hard thinking often yields no ideas; ideas arrive spontaneously after effort. **In simple terms:** Ideas come after effort, not during it. Key Takeaway Trust the process of thinking. Themes creativity patience effort Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing - problem solving - research - artistic creation Key Concepts spontaneity mental blocks Questions to Reflect On - How do you handle mental blocks? - What practices help ideas emerge? A Different Perspective Effort without results can be discouraging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Child of god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child-of-god/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Cry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cry/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thinking hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-hard/) ## Related quotes > [“Thoughts come back; beliefs persist; facts pass by never to return.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/thoughts-come-back-beliefs-persist-facts-pass-by-never-to-return/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I was on automatic pilot; ideas for gadgets kept coming, fed by a force of energy flowing through me and around me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-baylis/i-was-on-automatic-pilot-ideas-for-gadgets-kept-coming-fed-by-a-force/) [Trevor Baylis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-baylis/) > [“...this life is the incubation period!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-p-moreland/this-life-is-the-incubation-period/) [J.P. 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If you try, they'll no longer be creative. And no one will want your box.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-lilly/you-can-t-force-creatives-into-a-box-if-you-try-they-ll-no-longer-be/) [Ryan Lilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-lilly/) > [Generating ideas is not a problem. Incubation is. Acceleration is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-gunther-mcgrath/generating-ideas-is-not-a-problem-incubation-is-acceleration-is/) Rita Gunther McGrath > [You don't necessarily need to go to film school to learn that part of it. 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Then one takes a rest, long or short, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/often-when-works-at-a-hard-question-nothing-good-is-accomplished-at/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) ## 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 Child of god quotes > [Peace is the first thing the angels sang. Peace is the mark of the children of God. Peace is the nurse of love. 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As a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirk-franklin/the-world-is-always-waiting-for-someone-to-save-the-day-make-things/) [Kirk Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirk-franklin/) > [For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-the-apostle/for-the-creation-was-subjected-to-frustration-not-by-its-own-choice/) [Paul the Apostle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-the-apostle/) > [As children of God, knowing of His great love and His ultimate knowledge of what is best for our eternal welfare, we trust in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallin-h-oaks/as-children-of-god-knowing-of-his-great-love-and-his-ultimate/) [Dallin H. Oaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallin-h-oaks/) > [If you can sin and not weep over it, you are an heir of Hell. If you can go into sin, and afterwards feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/if-you-can-sin-and-not-weep-over-it-you-are-an-heir-of-hell-if-you/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [I am a child of God, and therefore I do not inherit sickness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myrtle-fillmore/i-am-a-child-of-god-and-therefore-i-do-not-inherit-sickness/) [Myrtle Fillmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myrtle-fillmore/) > [Go warn the children of God of the terrible speed of mercy,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/go-warn-the-children-of-god-of-the-terrible-speed-of-mercy/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-nouwen/the-truth-even-though-i-cannot-feel-it-right-now-is-that-i-am-the/) [Henri Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-nouwen/) > [As children of God we are somebody. He will build us, mold us, and magnify us if we will but hold our heads up,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/as-children-of-god-we-are-somebody-he-will-build-us-mold-us-and/) [Marvin J. Ashton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/) > [As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/as-we-are-liberated-from-our-own-fear-our-presence-automatically/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [Being Christian is not just obeying orders but means being in Christ, thinking like him, acting like him, loving like him; it means letting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/being-christian-is-not-just-obeying-orders-but-means-being-in-christ/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [Being true to one's duty is a mark of true disciples of the Lord and the children of God. 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