# Reading > Who Said That? >  Quote from Goethe or not?

## rhetoricdoc

An author of an inspirational book I am reading wrote "The German author, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, said, 'Hell begins the day God grants you the vision to see all that you could have done, should have done, and would have done, but did not do.'" I have not been able to independently verify that Goethe did, indeed, write these words. No web-based bank of Goethe quotes includes this quote. Interestingly enough, a similar quote is often attributed to Gian Carlo Menotti (a 20th century composer): "Hell begins on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts which we have wasted, of all that we might have done which we did not do." If Goethe did, indeed, write this "proverb," then it seems reasonable to think that Menotti may be paraphrasing him... 
Anybody know of Goethe wrote any sentiment like the one mentioned above?

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## cafolini

I don't know. But I think it's not consistent with Goethe's position, since he thought hell to be a stupidity. There is a certain amount of resentment in that quote which does not come out of Goethe anywhere I have researched. And I did some in-depth looking into the man.

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