Most people are like a falling leaf, which is blown and is turning around through the air, and wavers, and tumbles to the ground. But others, a few, are like stars, they go on a fixed course, no wind reaches them, in themselves they have their law and their course.
Hermann Hesse
Leaf, Stars, Course, Human Nature, Personal Destiny, Philosophical Metaphor
Hermann Hesse’s Quotes On Topics
Individual Journey | Challenge | Interpersonal Limitations | Temporal Paradox | Laugh | Mystery | Psychological Defense | Personal Complexity | Artistic Appreciation | Within | Always | Self Knowledge | Spiritual Dynamic | Monuments | Rucksack | Innate Wisdom | Humanity | Personal Journey | Holy | Reductionist Thinking | More
More Hermann Hesse Quotes
“All being, it seemed, was built on opposites, on division. Man or woman, vagabond or citizen, lover or thinker – no breath could both be in and out, none could be man and wife, free and yet orderly, knowing the urge of life and the joy of intellect. Always the one paid for the other, though each was equally precious and essential.” Hermann Hesse
Duality, Existence, Opposites, Balance, Humanity, Complexity
Hermann Hesse Duality, Existence, Opposites, Balance, Humanity, Complexity“The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever will be born must destroy a world.” Hermann Hesse
Bird, Egg, World, Personal Growth, Existential Rebirth, Metaphorical Destruction
Hermann Hesse Bird, Egg, World, Personal Growth, Existential Rebirth, Metaphorical Destruction“Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time?” That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future.” Hermann Hesse
Time, River, Presence, Nature, Transcendence, Existence
Hermann Hesse Time, River, Presence, Nature, Transcendence, Existence“All over, people were seeking "freedom" and "happiness" somewhere behind themselves, out of the sheer fear of being reminded of their own responsibilities and being admonished to travel their own path.” Hermann Hesse
Freedom, Happiness, Responsibilities, Personal Authenticity, Existential Avoidance, Self-deception
Hermann Hesse Freedom, Happiness, Responsibilities, Personal Authenticity, Existential Avoidance, Self-deception“The river taught us how to listen with a silent heart, with a waiting open soul...” Hermann Hesse
River, Listen, Soul, Spiritual Learning, Inner Stillness, Receptive Awareness
Hermann Hesse River, Listen, Soul, Spiritual Learning, Inner Stillness, Receptive Awareness“You are only afraid if you are not in harmony with yourself. People are afraid because they have never owned up to themselves. A whole society composed of men afraid of the unknown within them!” Hermann Hesse
Afraid, Harmony, Unknown, Self-acceptance, Societal Fear, Inner Exploration
Hermann Hesse Afraid, Harmony, Unknown, Self-acceptance, Societal Fear, Inner Exploration“You learned people and artists have, no doubt, all sorts of superior things in your heads; but you’re human beings like the rest of us, and we, too, have our dreams and fancies.” Hermann Hesse
Humanity, Dreams, Creativity, Equality, Artistic Expression, Shared Experience
Hermann Hesse Humanity, Dreams, Creativity, Equality, Artistic Expression, Shared Experience“My goal is this: always to put myself in the place in which I am best able to serve, wherever my gifts and qualities find the best soil to grow, the widest field of action. There is no other goal.” Hermann Hesse
Goal, Serve, Gifts, Personal Mission, Self-fulfillment, Existential Purpose
Hermann Hesse Goal, Serve, Gifts, Personal Mission, Self-fulfillment, Existential Purpose“Escribir es cosa buena, pero mejor es pensar. La prudencia es buena, pero la paciencia es mejor.” Hermann Hesse
Writing, Thinking, Prudence, Patience, Creativity, Reflection
Hermann Hesse Writing, Thinking, Prudence, Patience, Creativity, Reflection“Happiness is love, nothing else.” Hermann Hesse
Happiness, Love, Simplicity, Essence, Emotional Truth, Life Purpose
Hermann Hesse Happiness, Love, Simplicity, Essence, Emotional Truth, Life Purpose“I cannot tell my story without reaching a long way back.” Hermann Hesse
Story, Long, Back, Personal History, Narrative Reflection, Life Experience
Hermann Hesse Story, Long, Back, Personal History, Narrative Reflection, Life Experience“Some day you will think of what I am going to say to you now: our friendship has no other purpose, no other reason, than to show you how utterly unlike me you are.” Hermann Hesse
Friendship, Purpose, Unlike, Interpersonal Insight, Self-discovery, Relational Paradox
Hermann Hesse Friendship, Purpose, Unlike, Interpersonal Insight, Self-discovery, Relational Paradox“Time is not real, Govinda, I have experienced this often and often again. And if time is not real, then the gap which seems to be between the world and the eternity, between suffering and blissfulness, between evil and good, is also a deception.” Hermann Hesse
Time, Reality, Existence, Perception, Duality, Illusion
Hermann Hesse Time, Reality, Existence, Perception, Duality, Illusion“Despair is the result of each earnest attempt to go through life with virtue, justice and understanding, and to fulfill their requirements. Children live on one side of despair, the awakened on the other side.” Hermann Hesse
Despair, Virtue, Awakened, Moral Struggle, Existential Awakening, Philosophical Insight
Hermann Hesse Despair, Virtue, Awakened, Moral Struggle, Existential Awakening, Philosophical Insight“His way had therefore come full circle, or rather had taken the form of an ellipse or a spiral, following as ever no straight unbroken line, for the rectilinear belongs only to Geometry and not to Nature and Life.” Hermann Hesse
Journey, Growth, Cycles, Nature, Transformation, Exploration
Hermann Hesse Journey, Growth, Cycles, Nature, Transformation, Exploration“It is not for me to judge another man’s life. I must judge, I must choose, I must spurn, purely for myself. For myself, alone.” Hermann Hesse
Judge, Life, Alone, Moral Autonomy, Individual Ethics, Personal Choice
Hermann Hesse Judge, Life, Alone, Moral Autonomy, Individual Ethics, Personal Choice“To die is to go into the Collective Unconscious, to lose oneself in order to be transformed into form, pure form.” Hermann Hesse
Die, Collective Unconscious, Form, Psychological Transformation, Spiritual Transition, Existential Metamorphosis
Hermann Hesse Die, Collective Unconscious, Form, Psychological Transformation, Spiritual Transition, Existential Metamorphosis“The world, my friend Govinda, is not imperfect, or on a slow path towards perfection: no, it is perfect in every moment, all sin already carries the divine forgiveness in itself, all small children already have the old person in themselves, all infants already have death, all dying people the eternal life.” Hermann Hesse
World, Perfect, Forgiveness, Spiritual Perspective, Existential Completeness, Cyclical Nature
Hermann Hesse World, Perfect, Forgiveness, Spiritual Perspective, Existential Completeness, Cyclical Nature“To achieve the possible, we must attempt the impossible again and again.” Hermann Hesse
Possible, Impossible, Achieve, Motivational Philosophy, Personal Growth, Ambitious Pursuit
Hermann Hesse Possible, Impossible, Achieve, Motivational Philosophy, Personal Growth, Ambitious Pursuit“Now and then I have expressed the opinion that every nation, and every person, would do better, instead of rocking himself to sleep with political catchwords about war-guilt, to ask himself how far his own faults and negligencies and evil tendencies are guilty of the war and all the other wrongs of the world, and that there lies the only possible means of avoiding the next war.” Hermann Hesse
Accountability, Responsibility, Introspection, Peace, Social Justice, Personal Growth
Hermann Hesse Accountability, Responsibility, Introspection, Peace, Social Justice, Personal Growth