My real self wanders elsewhere, far away, wanders on and on invisibly and has nothing to do with my life. Hermann Hesse More Quotes by Hermann Hesse More Quotes From Hermann Hesse People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest. It was a scandal that a breed of fearless and sinister people ran around freely, so they attached a nickname and a myth to these people to get even with them, to make up for the many times they had felt afraid. Hermann Hesse fearlesscharacterpeople All this had always been and he had never seen it; he was never present. Now he was present and belonged to it. Through his eyes he saw light and shadows; through his mind he was aware of moon and stars. Hermann Hesse starseyemoon In any case, the most lively young people become the best old people, not those who pretend to be as wise as grandfathers while they are still at school. Hermann Hesse wisepeopleschool ...and the vessel was not full, his intellect was not satisfied, his soul was not at peace, his heart was not still. Hermann Hesse intellectsoulheart Man is an onion made up of a hundred integuments, a texture made up of many threads. The ancient Asiatics knew this well enough, and in the Buddhist Yoga an exact technique was devised for unmasking the illusion of the personality. The human merry-go-round sees many changes: the illusion that cost India the efforts of thousands of years to unmask is the same illusion that the West has labored just as hard to maintain and strengthen. Hermann Hesse buddhistyogamen Yes, I am going into the woods; I am going into the unity of all things. Hermann Hesse unitywoodsall-things The many-voiced song of the river echoed softly. Siddhartha looked into the river and saw many pictures in the flowing water. The river's voice was sorrowful. It sang with yearning and sadness, flowing towards its goal ... Siddhartha was now listening intently...to this song of a thousand voices ... then the great song of a thousand voices consisted of one word: Om - Perfection ... From that hour Siddhartha ceased to fight against his destiny. Hermann Hesse sadnessrainsong You wouldn't consider all the bipeds you pass on the street human beings simply because they walk upright and carry their young in their bellies nine months! It is obvious how many of them are fish or sheep, worms or angels, how many are ants, how many are bees! Hermann Hesse angelninesheep To die is to go into the Collective Unconscious, to lose oneself in order to be transformed into form, pure form. Hermann Hesse collective-unconsciousconfusionorder Love must not entreat,' she added, 'or demand. Love must have the strength to become certain within itself. Then it ceases merely to be attracted and begins to attract. Hermann Hesse demandstrengthlife One cannot apologize for something fundamental, and a child feels and knows this as well and as deeply as any sage. Hermann Hesse sagefundamentalschildren How foolish to wear oneself out in vain longing for warmth! Solitude is independence. Hermann Hesse longingindependencesolitude When trying to remember my share in the glow of the eternal present, in the smile of God, I return to my childhood, too, for that is where the most significant discoveries turn up. Hermann Hesse glowingchildhooddiscovery I can think. I can wait. I can fast. Hermann Hesse siddharthawaitingthinking His life oscillates, as everyone's does, not merely between two poles, such as the body and the spirit, the saint and the sinner, but between thousands and thousands. Hermann Hesse saintdoetwo For the air of lonely men surrounded him now, a still atmosphere in which the world around him slipped away, leaving him incapable of relationship, an atmosphere against which neither will nor longing availed. This was one of the significant earmarks of his life. Hermann Hesse lonelyairmen I called the world of phenomena an illusion, I called my eyes and my tongue an accident, valueless phenomena. No, that is all over; I have awakened, I have really awakened and I have just been born today. Hermann Hesse eyetodayworld Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. You, O worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose. Hermann Hesse siddharthagoalmean The day had gone by just as days go by. I had killed it in accordance with my primitive and retiring way of life. Hermann Hesse gonebookway Oh, if I had had a friend at this moment, a friend in an attic room, dreaming by candlelight and with a violin lying ready at his hand! How I should have slipped up to him in his quiet hour, noiselessly climbing the winding stair to take him by surprise, and then with talk and music we should have held heavenly festival throughout the night! Hermann Hesse dreamnightlying
