Quotes
<< Prev Next >>
Siddhartha has one single goal - to become empty, to become empty of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure and sorrow-to let the Self die. No longer to be Self, to experience the peace of an emptied heart, to experience pure thought - that was his goal.
Siddhartha
I sometimes am struck with an astonished fear at my inspirations, at my thoughts, realizing how little of myself is mine (or, is myself).
Manuscript
I have thoughts which, if I could bring them forth and make them living, would add a new lightness to the stars, a new beauty to the world and a greater love to the heart of men.
Manuscript (1907)
Except our own thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power
It may offend us to hear our own thoughts expressed by others: we are not sure enough of their souls
Thoughts without intuitions are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind
All thought must, directly or indirectly, by way of certain characters, relate ultimately to intuitions, and therefore, with us, to sensibility, because in no other way can an object be given to us
Thought is a kind of opium; it can intoxicate us, while still broad awake; it can make transparent the mountains and everything that exists
Analysis kills spontaneity. The grain once ground into flour springs and germinates no more
Action and faith enslave thought, both of them in order not be troubled or inconvenienced by reflection, criticism, and doubt
Search
On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays
Essays