Obeying is like eating and drinking. There’s nothing like it if you’ve been without it for too long.
Hermann Hesse
Obedience, Necessity, Instinct, Human Nature, Survival Needs, Natural Behavior
Hermann Hesse’s Quotes On Topics
Daily Routine | Artistic Philosophy | Gender Fluidity | Like | Communicative Limitation | Failure | Divine Mockery | Primitive | Philosophical Concept | Sensual Awakening | Letting Go | Positive Perspective | Dissolves | Eternity | Personal History | Human Behavior | Gratitude | Aesthetic Appreciation | Holy | Emotional Conflict | More
More Hermann Hesse Quotes
“Water wants to join water. Youth wants to join youth.” Hermann Hesse
Water, Youth, Join, Natural Affinity, Generational Connection, Universal Principle
Hermann Hesse Water, Youth, Join, Natural Affinity, Generational Connection, Universal Principle“Everything becomes questionable as soon as I consider it closely, everything slips away and dissolves.” Hermann Hesse
Questionable, Slips, Dissolves, Philosophical Doubt, Perceptual Instability, Existential Uncertainty
Hermann Hesse Questionable, Slips, Dissolves, Philosophical Doubt, Perceptual Instability, Existential Uncertainty“The world is not imperfect or slowly evolving along a path to perfection. No, it is perfect at every moment, every sin already carries grace in it.” Hermann Hesse
World, Perfect, Grace, Existential Perfection, Spiritual Paradox, Holistic Perspective
Hermann Hesse World, Perfect, Grace, Existential Perfection, Spiritual Paradox, Holistic Perspective“Seriousness is an accident of time. It consists of putting too high a value on time. In eternity there is no time. Eternity is a moment, just long enough for a joke.” Hermann Hesse
Seriousness, Time, Eternity, Perspective, Humor, Existence
Hermann Hesse Seriousness, Time, Eternity, Perspective, Humor, Existence“There was once a man, Harry, called the steppenwolf. He went on two legs, wore clothes and was a human being, but nevertheless he was in reality a wolf of the steppes. He had learned a good deal of all that people of a good intelligence can, and was a fairly clever fellow. What he had not learned, however, was this: to find contentment in himself and his own life.” Hermann Hesse
Duality, Contentment, Self Acceptance, Identity, Inner Conflict, Human Nature
Hermann Hesse Duality, Contentment, Self Acceptance, Identity, Inner Conflict, Human Nature“You treat world history as a mathematician does mathematics, in which nothing but laws and formulas exist, no reality, no good and evil, no time, no yesterday, no tomorrow, nothing but an eternal, shallow, mathematical present.” Hermann Hesse
History, Mathematics, Present, Historical Critique, Reductionist Thinking, Temporal Perspective
Hermann Hesse History, Mathematics, Present, Historical Critique, Reductionist Thinking, Temporal Perspective“Look, my dear Govinda, this is one of my thoughts, which I have found: wisdom cannot be passed on. Wisdom which a wise man tries to pass on to someone always sounds like foolishness.” “Are you kidding?” asked Govinda. “I’m not kidding. I’m telling you what I’ve found. Knowledge can be conveyed, but not wisdom. It can be found, it can be lived, it is possible to be carried by it, miracles can be performed with it, but it cannot be expressed in words and taught.” Hermann Hesse
Wisdom, Knowledge, Experience, Communication, Understanding, Learning
Hermann Hesse Wisdom, Knowledge, Experience, Communication, Understanding, Learning“The call of death is a call of love. Death can be sweet if we answer it in the affirmative, if we accept it as one of the great eternal forms of life and transformation.” Hermann Hesse
Death, Love, Transformation, Acceptance, Existence, Spirituality
Hermann Hesse Death, Love, Transformation, Acceptance, Existence, Spirituality“I dropped all my defenses and was afraid of nothing in the world. I accepted all things and to all things I gave up my heart.” Hermann Hesse
Defenses, Nothing, Accepted, Emotional Surrender, Existential Freedom, Personal Vulnerability
Hermann Hesse Defenses, Nothing, Accepted, Emotional Surrender, Existential Freedom, Personal Vulnerability“Siddhartha stopped fighting his fate this very hour, and he stopped suffering.” Hermann Hesse
Fate, Acceptance, Peace, Self Realization, Freedom, Inner Calm
Hermann Hesse Fate, Acceptance, Peace, Self Realization, Freedom, Inner Calm“Solitude is independence.” Hermann Hesse
Solitude, Independence, Freedom, Self Reflection, Personal Space, Inner Peace
Hermann Hesse Solitude, Independence, Freedom, Self Reflection, Personal Space, Inner Peace“The sacred sense of beyond, of timelessness, of a world which had an eternal value and the substance of which was divine had been given back to me today by this friend of mine who taught me dancing.” Hermann Hesse
Timelessness, Divinity, Connection, Friendship, Sacredness, Inner Joy
Hermann Hesse Timelessness, Divinity, Connection, Friendship, Sacredness, Inner Joy“There I often walked along the shore, listened to the sea, and thought as I had done in my youth, with amazement and horror, about the sad and senseless confusion of life, that one could love in vain, that people who meant well toward each other should work out their destinies separately, each one going his own inexplicable way, and how each would like to help and draw close to the other and yet was unable to do so, as in troubled meaningless dreams.” Hermann Hesse
Shore, Life, Dreams, Existential Reflection, Human Isolation, Relational Complexity
Hermann Hesse Shore, Life, Dreams, Existential Reflection, Human Isolation, Relational Complexity“I thought of nothing but her. I expected everything from her. I was ready to lay everything at her feet. I was not in the least in love with her. Yet I had only to imagine that she might fail to keep the appointment, or forget it, to see where I stood. Then the world would be a desert once more, one day as dreary and worthless as the last, and the deathly stillness and wretchedness would surround me once more on all sides with no way out from this hell of silence except the razor.” Hermann Hesse
Love, Appointment, Razor, Emotional Dependency, Existential Despair, Psychological Insight
Hermann Hesse Love, Appointment, Razor, Emotional Dependency, Existential Despair, Psychological Insight“Perfect music has its cause. It arises from equilibrium. Equilibrium arises from righteousness, and righteousness arises from the meaning of the cosmos. Therefore one can speak about music only with a man who has perceived the meaning of the cosmos.” Hermann Hesse
Music, Equilibrium, Cosmos, Artistic Philosophy, Universal Harmony, Spiritual Insight
Hermann Hesse Music, Equilibrium, Cosmos, Artistic Philosophy, Universal Harmony, Spiritual Insight“Whither will my path yet lead me? This path is stupid, it goes in spirals, perhaps in circles, but whichever way it goes, I will follow it.” Hermann Hesse
Path, Journey, Uncertainty, Persistence, Exploration, Self Discovery
Hermann Hesse Path, Journey, Uncertainty, Persistence, Exploration, Self Discovery“You are willing to die, you coward, but not to live.” Hermann Hesse
Fear, Courage, Life, Existence, Choice, Existential Challenge
Hermann Hesse Fear, Courage, Life, Existence, Choice, Existential Challenge“But be warned, oh seeker of knowledge, of the thicket of opinions and of arguing about words.” Hermann Hesse
Knowledge, Opinions, Words, Intellectual Caution, Philosophical Pitfalls, Verbal Traps
Hermann Hesse Knowledge, Opinions, Words, Intellectual Caution, Philosophical Pitfalls, Verbal Traps“There was nothing left for him, except to annihilate himself, except to smash the failure into which he had shaped his life, to throw it away, before the feet of mockingly laughing gods.” Hermann Hesse
Annihilate, Failure, Gods, Existential Despair, Self-destruction, Divine Mockery
Hermann Hesse Annihilate, Failure, Gods, Existential Despair, Self-destruction, Divine Mockery“During the dark hours I felt my sick heart expand and beat more furiously, and I no longer made any distinction between pleasure and pain, but one was similar to the other; both hurt and both were precious. Whether my inner life went well or badly, my discovered strength stood peacefully outside looking on and knew that light and dark were closely related and that sorrow and peace were rhythm, part and spirit of the same great music.” Hermann Hesse
Pleasure, Pain, Duality, Strength, Rhythm, Inner Life
Hermann Hesse Pleasure, Pain, Duality, Strength, Rhythm, Inner Life