---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Thou must (in commanding and winning, or…"
description: "\"Thou must (in commanding and winning, or serving and losing, suffering or triumphing) be either anvil or hammer.\" — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_anvil_thou-must-in-commanding-and-winning-or-s_2628851.jpg"
---

#  Thou must (in commanding and winning, or serving and…

![“Thou must (in commanding and winning, or serving and losing, suffering or triumphing) be either anvil or hammer.” quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_anvil_thou-must-in-commanding-and-winning-or-s_2628851.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_anvil_thou-must-in-commanding-and-winning-or-s_2628851.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_anvil_thou-must-in-commanding-and-winning-or-s_2628851.jpg)

> “Thou must (in commanding and winning, or serving and losing, suffering or triumphing) be either anvil or hammer.”

[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.

One must decide whether to be passive or active in life's struggles.

**In simple terms:** Choose to act rather than be shaped by circumstances.

Key Takeaway

Embrace agency, avoid victimhood.

Themes

choice agency conflict

Mood

determined reflective

Type

advice motivational

When to use this quote

- career decisions
- relationships
- social movements

Key Concepts

existentialism personal power

Questions to Reflect On

- Are you the anvil or the hammer in your current challenges?
- What does taking a hammer mean to you?

A Different Perspective

Passive acceptance can lead to missed opportunities.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Anvil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anvil/) [Anvil Hammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anvil-hammer-2172145/) [Anvils](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anvils/) [Fate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fate/) [Hammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hammer/) [Hammers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hammers/) [Losing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/losing/) [Serving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serving/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Thou Commanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thou-commanding-2172146/) [Triumphing Anvil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/triumphing-anvil-2172144/) [Winning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winning/)

## Related quotes

> [In France every man is either an anvil or a hammer; he is a beater or must be beaten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-france-every-man-is-either-an-anvil-or-a-hammer-he-is-a-beater-or/)

[Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/)

> [Every man who strikes blows for power, for influence, for institutions, for the right, must be just as good an anvil as he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/every-man-who-strikes-blows-for-power-for-influence-for-institutions/)

[J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/)

> [In this world man must either be anvil or hammer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/in-this-world-man-must-either-be-anvil-or-hammer/)

[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/)

> [In real life it is always the anvil that breaks the hammer...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-real-life-it-is-always-the-anvil-that-breaks-the-hammer/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [“Life's a forge! Yes, and hammer and anvil, too! You'll be roasted, smelted, and pounded, and you'll scarce know what's happening to you. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-alexander/life-s-a-forge-yes-and-hammer-and-anvil-too-you-ll-be-roasted-smelted/)

[Lloyd Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-alexander/)

> [Lay me on an anvil, O God. Beat me and hammer me into a steel spike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sandburg/lay-me-on-an-anvil-o-god-beat-me-and-hammer-me-into-a-steel-spike/)

[Carl Sandburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sandburg/)

> [I would rather be the hammer than the anvil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-rommel/i-would-rather-be-the-hammer-than-the-anvil/)

[Erwin Rommel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-rommel/)

> [The anvil is not afraid of the hammer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/the-anvil-is-not-afraid-of-the-hammer/)

[Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/)

> [Hammer the iron that lies on your anvil instead of daydreaming about working silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jordan/hammer-the-iron-that-lies-on-your-anvil-instead-of-daydreaming-about/)

[Robert Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jordan/)

> [The country blacksmith who employs no journeyman is never conscious of any conflict between the capital invested in his anvil, hammer and bellows, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leland-stanford/the-country-blacksmith-who-employs-no-journeyman-is-never-conscious/)

[Leland Stanford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leland-stanford/)

> [You must either conquer and rule or serve and lose, suffer or triumph, be the anvil or the hammer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/you-must-either-conquer-and-rule-or-serve-and-lose-suffer-or-triumph/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [You must be either the servant or the master, the hammer or the anvil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/you-must-be-either-the-servant-or-the-master-the-hammer-or-the-anvil/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [“Suffer or triumph, be the hammer or the anvil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/suffer-or-triumph-be-the-hammer-or-the-anvil/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [Harsh counsels have no effect; they are like hammers which are always repulsed by the anvil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-adrien-helvetius/harsh-counsels-have-no-effect-they-are-like-hammers-which-are-always/)

[Claude Adrien Helvetius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-adrien-helvetius/)

> [Let me think... I wonder if an anvil will drop like an apple?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/let-me-think-i-wonder-if-an-anvil-will-drop-like-an-apple/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

## 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 Anvil quotes

> [You tell that to the people who are dying everyday in Anvil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jin-kazama/you-tell-that-to-the-people-who-are-dying-everyday-in-anvil/)

[Jin Kazama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jin-kazama/)

> [In this world man must either be anvil or hammer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/in-this-world-man-must-either-be-anvil-or-hammer/)

[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/)

> [Let me think... I wonder if an anvil will drop like an apple?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/let-me-think-i-wonder-if-an-anvil-will-drop-like-an-apple/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [Hammer the iron that lies on your anvil instead of daydreaming about working silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jordan/hammer-the-iron-that-lies-on-your-anvil-instead-of-daydreaming-about/)

[Robert Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jordan/)

> [Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of all England.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malory/whoso-pulleth-out-this-sword-of-this-stone-and-anvil-is-rightwise/)

[Thomas Malory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malory/)

> [The anvil is not afraid of the hammer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/the-anvil-is-not-afraid-of-the-hammer/)

[Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/)

> [When your opponent is drowning, throw the son of a bitch an anvil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-carville/when-your-opponent-is-drowning-throw-the-son-of-a-bitch-an-anvil/)

[James Carville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-carville/)

> [“Stand like a beaten anvil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignatius-bishop-and-martyr/stand-like-a-beaten-anvil/)

[Ignatius Bishop and Martyr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignatius-bishop-and-martyr/)

> [You must either conquer and rule or serve and lose, suffer or triumph, be the anvil or the hammer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/you-must-either-conquer-and-rule-or-serve-and-lose-suffer-or-triumph/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [Harsh counsels have no effect; they are like hammers which are always repulsed by the anvil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-adrien-helvetius/harsh-counsels-have-no-effect-they-are-like-hammers-which-are-always/)

[Claude Adrien Helvetius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-adrien-helvetius/)

> [“Because it is on the anvil of pain that the gods forge heroes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-l-werner/because-it-is-on-the-anvil-of-pain-that-the-gods-forge-heroes/)

[C.L. Werner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-l-werner/)

> [I would rather be the hammer than the anvil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-rommel/i-would-rather-be-the-hammer-than-the-anvil/)

[Erwin Rommel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-rommel/)

> [If you're a blacksmith, probably the proudest day of your life is when you get your first anvil. How innocent you are, little blacksmith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/if-you-re-a-blacksmith-probably-the-proudest-day-of-your-life-is-when/)

[Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/)

> [You must be either the servant or the master, the hammer or the anvil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/you-must-be-either-the-servant-or-the-master-the-hammer-or-the-anvil/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [“For all your years prepare, And meet them ever alike; When you are the anvil, bear-- When you are the hammer, strike. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-markham/for-all-your-years-prepare-and-meet-them-ever-alike-when-you-are-the/)

[Edwin Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-markham/)

[Browse all 52 Anvil quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anvil/)

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