"Nature" (German: Die Natur) is an essay by Georg Christoph Tobler which is often incorrectly attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It was first published in 1783 in the Tiefurt Journal.^[1] Tobler wrote the essay after repeated conversations with Goethe.^[1]

The essay begins:

Nature! We are surrounded and embraced by her—unable to step out of her and unable to penetrate her more deeply.^[2]

In the first issue of Nature magazine, published on Nov 4, 1869, T. H. Huxley submitted an English translation of the essay, titled "Nature: Aphorisms by Goethe".^[3]

Sigmund Freud wrote that a public recitation of the essay, which Freud refers to as "the incomparably beautiful essay by Goethe", led him to study medicine.^[2]