Faust I 364-373

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

And I see all our search for knowledge is vain,
And this burns my heart with bitter pain.
I’ve more sense, to be sure, than the learned fools,
The masters and pastors, the scribes from the schools;
No scruples to plague me, no irksome doubt,
No hell-fire or devil to worry about—
Yet I take no pleasure in anything now;
For I know I know nothing, I wonder how
I can still keep up the pretence of teaching
Or bettering mankind with my empty preaching.

translated by: David Luke