Hermann Hesse
Full Name: Hermann Karl Hesse
Birthdate: July 2, 1877
Birthplace: Calw, Oberamt Calw, Schwarzwaldkreis, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire
Date of Death: August 9, 1962
Occupation: Artist, Author, and Poet
Profile: Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946. Best known for
Siddhartha, Steppenwolf and
The Glass Bead Game.
Website: http://hesse.projects.gss.ucsb.edu/
Number of Quotes: 2
Oh, if only it were possible to find understanding,
Joseph exclaimed.
If only there were a dogma to believe in.
Everything is contradictory, everything tangential; there are no certainties anywhere. Everything can be interpreted one way
and then again interpreted in the opposite sense. The whole of world history can be explained as development and progress and
can also be seen as nothing but decadence and meaninglessness. Isn't there any truth? Is there no real and valid doctrine?
The master had never heard him speak so fervently. He walked on in silence for a little, then said:
There is truth, my
boy. But the doctrine you desire, absolute, perfect dogma that alone provides wisdom, does not exist. Nor should you long
for a perfect doctrine, my friend. Rather, you should long for the perfection of yourself. The deity is within you, not in ideas
and books. Truth is lived, not taught. Be prepared for conflicts, Joseph Knecht - I can see that they already have begun.
The Glass Bead Game
Stages
As every flower fades and as all youth
Departs, so life at every stage,
So every virtue, so our grasp of truth,
Blooms in its day and may not last forever.
Since life may summon us at every age
Be ready, heart, for parting, new endeavor,
Be ready bravely and without remorse
To find new light that old ties cannot give.
In all beginnings dwells a magic force
For guarding us and helping us to live.
Serenely let us move to distant places
And let no sentiments of home detain us.
The Cosmic Spirit seeks not to restrain us
But lifts us stage by stage to wider spaces.
If we accept a home of our own making,
Familiar habit makes for indolence.
We must prepare for parting and leave-taking
Or else remain the slaves of permanence.
Even the hour of our death may send
Us speeding on to fresh and newer spaces,
And life may summon us to newer races.
So be it, heart: bid farewell without end.
The Glass Bead Game
Last on Earth
