Philosophers From Germany

"Erst erfreuen, dann belehren."

"Death is but a word to us. Our own experience alone can teach us the real meaning of the word."

"Diejenige Regierung ist die beste, die sich überflüssing macht."

"A man must seek his happiness and inward peace from objects which cannot be taken away from him."

"Prayer is intended to increase the devotion of the individual, but if the individual himself prays he requires no formula — he pours himself forth much more naturally in self-chosen and connected thoughts before God, and scarcely requires words at all. Real inward devotion knows no prayer but that arising from the depths of its own feelings."

"It is a characteristic of old age to find that time passes on with accelerated pace. The less one accomplishes in a given time, the shorter does the retrospect appear."

"Cheerfulness cannot be forced, and man has not much more power over the clouds that overshadow his mind than over those that darken the sky. Meanwhile man ought not to be altogether inactive, but must labour at his daily duties, and be watchful over himself."

"In whatever way the so-called great political affairs of the world may go, individuals and families proceed on their course with little interruption, endeavour to better their condition, and to improve the means which time puts more and more into their hands, and to increase those means so as to improve their position in society. This is a very consoling reflection, and the grand course of human destiny thus shows itself to be much less dependent on foreign will and chance than appears at first sight."

"As time advances more things appear, which enable the world to judge of the characters of remarkable men. In our judgments of them at first we are influenced by the opinions which their contemporaries held respecting them, but gradually another opinion arises, on which at last what is called posthumous fame is built up. Men in this way become in a certain degree like phantoms. Much which belongs to them vanishes, and what remains assumes quite a different aspect. Therefore what we know of them will be received according to the spirit of the existing time. So uncertain is the image which even the greatest men leave behind them in history."

"One cannot enough wonder or be thankful to Providence that from time to time he awakens in the spirits of a whole people, or of individuals, those truly godlike thoughts on which our inner being reposes."

"But for good recitation many things are necessary: first, of course, what only a good education can give to any one, a clear conception of the meaning, and a good, distinct pronunciation, free from provincialisms; and then what is innate: a happily-constituted, sensitive organisation, a fine musical ear for the intonation, a genuine poetic feeling, and a mind in which all the human affections exist in strength and purity."

"As the sea in its sublime uniformity ever brings manifold images before the soul, and calls up a variety of thoughts, it became quite evident to me, from violent continuous storms, what flattering gentleness the sea has in its greatest terrors. The sea, which swallows up what it seizes, advances with playfulness and covers the deep abyss with white foam. The sea has been called deceitful and treacherous, but there lies in this trait only the character of a great natural power which, to speak according to our own feelings, renews its strength, and, without reference to joy or sorrow, follows eternal laws which are imposed by a higher Power."

"Man is apt to judge of things not so much by their intrinsic worth, as by their agreement with his own preconceived ideas."

"Many terrors are in a great measure only in the imagination. Even in many real illnesses it adds much when people are timid and of anxious minds. The restlessness which certain diseases bring with them is lessened if we are able to counteract them by peace of mind. With positive pain it is otherwise, but even with it much may be done. Above all, much is gained if we regard sickness not as a state of suffering, but as a labour which must be got over. For no one can doubt but that the patient can contribute much to the restoration of his strength and to his own recovery."

"There is a pride which belongs to every rightly-constituted mind, though it is scarcely to be called pride, but rather a proper estimate of self. It is, properly speaking, the elevation of mind which arises when we feel that we have mastered some noble idea and made it our own. Man is proud of the idea only so far as he feels that it has become part of himself."

"There is an important law of nature which should never be lost sight of, I mean that of our maturity for death. Death is not a cutting off of being, but a transition, a passing from one form of being to another. Both conditions, here and hereafter, so depend on each other, and are so inseparably connected, that the first moment there can only commence with the last moment here, when the perfect development of the being is completed. No human wisdom can calculate, no inward feeling can show, the moment of this maturity for death, or the impossibility of advancing farther; to attempt this would be the vain presumption of human pride. He only who is in a position to penetrate and understand our whole being can do this ; and it is the dictate alike of duty and of wisdom to commit the hour to Him, and never to oppose our impatient wishes to his will."

"Man reconciles himself to almost any event, however trying, if it happens in the ordinary course of nature. It is the extraordinary alone that he rebels against. There is a moral idea associated with this feeling, for the extraordinary is, or at least appears to be, something like an injustice of Heaven."

"Cheerfulness is, as it were, the sunny ray of life. This is the constant portion of none, and the word itself comprehends also a multitude of degrees and modifications. The sum of all is this — that man, ever from inward and outward circumstances, forms for himself a nature which is peculiar to him, and is the track on which his life glides. This is a beneficent arrangement of Providence, for no struggle after harmony and elevation is ever without effect."

"The sorrow which calls for help and comfort is not the greatest, nor does it come from the depths of the heart."

"Enjoyment arises from activity of mind; both are ever united. There is indeed also an enjoyment which streams in upon us as a pure gift of Heaven. Such, however, we should not seek after; it is to be regretted when an anxious longing for this arises. But the great enjoyment, the great happiness, that which cannot be torn from us by any power, lies in the past and in the thought that happiness is indeed a great and precious good, but yet the improvement of the soul by joys and griefs, the development of noble feelings, is the true and only end of existence; whereas everything else in the world is ever changing, and in its nature transient. According to this view, life in the past sinks not into a stupid brooding over past pleasures or sorrows that have been felt, but is united closely with the mental activity which employs itself on the present."

"The things of the world are ever rising and falling, and in unceasing change. This change must be in accordance with the will of God, as he has given to man neither the power nor the wisdom to control it and bring it to a close. The great lesson to be learned in such cases is, that man must strengthen himself doubly to perform his duty, and do what is right, seeking his happiness and inward peace in objects which cannot be taken away from him."

"Time is only an empty space, first acquiring meaning from the events, thoughts, and feelings with which we fill it. But as we know that this meaning has come fraught with joy and sorrow to many sensitive natures, our own hearts cannot but be affected by it. Its quiet, secret power, too, has a magical charm. The day on which a great misfortune has befallen us is, after a long course of years, passed unnoticed, and then, too, unknown to us is the approach of one on which a calamity inevitably awaits us. If we reflect deeply on the consequences of time, we lose ourselves as in an abyss. There is neither beginning nor end. A great comfort lies, however, in contemplating the course of life, as it ever reminds us of a sublime law — an eternal controlling power — an immutable order. There is something very tranquillising in the knowledge of this order in all the affairs of the world, in the frailty of human nature, and in the apparently uncontrolled destructive power of the elements."

"To be happy and to feel inward happiness is not the gift of fate, and comes not from the circumstances in which we are placed. We must reach it by our own exertions if it is to remain. But then it is comforting to think that it is always within our own power. God himself cannot make a man happy in his external circumstances, or at least only to a certain extent, nor yet can he make him always prosperous and successful in his aims; for God has with supreme wisdom placed men in the midst of ever-changing events, and these do not admit of men being always happy. But inwardly happy he can always make him, for he has given us this power in our heart — the yearning for him, the admiration, love, and trust in him; in fact, all those feelings by which his peace comes to us."

"Experience will convince you, what I have often said, that man can do much for himself. God would not have given him a dis¬ position so easily excited and so easily moved to sorrow and grief, if he had not bestowed at the same time a strength of mind to control these feelings, and to get the better of this grief. He gives nothing directly; he ever wills that man should merit his blessing by his own exertions; we cannot say earn and deserve, for the human can never in this way attain the heavenly. All, too, that God gives must pass through man and his own exertions, as if it were his own peculiar work. It is with the seed which produces the fruit of the Spirit precisely as with that which springs from the earth, or at least in quite a similar way. The seed is not immediately from God or from nature; it must go through all the processes necessary to bring it by degrees to maturity; and if man, under the most favourable sky and the most fruitful soil, wishes to be secure of his harvest, he must bestow his labour and the "sweat of his brow." This is still more the case with the fruit of the Spirit and of the heart, but the certainty of the harvest is still greater."

"Religion is implanted in the very nature of man. The Christian religion has come down from above by the special will of God. It has, however, not deprived man of freedom on this point, but rather has conferred it on him in a still higher degree ; just because religious feelings have their true value according as they spring freely and spontaneously from man’s inner nature. Thus it has been received and pushed on till everything has yielded to it. But when it has been received into the hearts of men, it produces different effects according to the peculiar spirit and character of each. Already we see this take place among the Apostles, and therefore from the very earliest days of the Christian religion. See the difference between John and Peter. In the end there arose real dissensions. Passions and worldly views got mixed up. Thus profanity and abuses were the result. But still we always see in these religious disputes the godlike alongside of the earthly — ever the One, Eternal, and Immortal giving light and warmth as the sun, but overcast, sometimes more, sometimes less, by the clouds of the earthly."

"That is a very beautiful expression in your last letter, in which you say that you regard life as a casket, in which we can lay up all the spiritual treasures that we possess. It is indeed a remarkably happy idea. In fact, man can make of life what he will, and give as much value to it for himself and others as he has power given him. This, however, is to be understood merely in a spiritual sense, as man has not external circumstances in his own power, but over his spiritual and moral nature he has entire control."

"Peace is the natural tone of a well-regulated mind at one with itself. External circumstances may assume a threatening aspect, and unhinge for a time the most stoical disposition, but a truly noble soul yields not; and there are even women who unite such firmness with the greatest and liveliest activity of mind and vigour of imagination. This we may admire, though we must not expect often to find it in them. But in man it is an imperative duty, and he loses in the eyes of the right-thinking all title to respect when he shows a deficiency in this quality."

"We must wait for the future, and enjoy or bear the present."

"It is a very wise rule in life not to be too anxious about health, or to be entirely free from the inconveniences and bodily ailments of old age. It is far better to submit with patience to what is merely annoying, but does not altogether confine us, and still better to treat with indifference the uncomfortable feelings which such a state of body calls up."

"Those who go along the path of life together must separate at some point; it is well when the interval at which they follow each other is very short. But every period of years is short in comparison of eternity. As for myself, I care now for nothing else except that my inward being, simple and undisguised, without being led by prejudices or maxims, yielding only to its feelings, should place itself in unison with that period of life on which I have unluckily entered sooner than the usual course of life might have led me to expect. Such a state, in my opinion, no man need fear to attain, but there must be much striving after it. It is, indeed, often attained only after much physical and moral suffering, but in this there is a lesson of humility under the hand of God, which I have ever regarded as the best and highest duty of man."

"What is the individual in the stream of this world’s events? He disappears in it, not merely like an atom in an immeasurable, all-absorbing power, but in a higher, nobler spirit. For this stream does not rush on thoughtlessly, led by blind chance, but pursues its distinct end, guided in its course by an almighty and all-wise hand. But the individual does not live to see the attainment of this end; he enjoys a greater or less share of success as chance wills it, by which I merely mean an uninvestigated providence; he will often be sacrificed in the attainment, and must frequently leave his work suddenly, and in the midst of his labours. He is therefore only an instrument, and does not appear to be even a powerful one; as, when the course of nature sweeps him away, his place is ever filled up, for it would be absurd to suppose that the great objects of the Creator could be for a moment delayed by any circumstance in the life of a weak individual. In the events of the moral world there is an aim — there is an idea pursued — one can at least, nay, one must think so in reference to himself. In the order of the material nature it is otherwise. One can only say that powers arise and run their course as long as they are permitted. As long as one looks at a single individual, he appears different from other men — different in ability, health, length of life, &c.; but if we look at a mass of living beings, they appear all alike."

"Our evangelical churches are too much regarded as places for preaching, and too little thought as intended for the religious elevation of the mind by prayer and meditation."

"The past and the remembrance of it have a never-ending power, and if painful longings arise to give ourselves up to it, it has yet an inexpressible charm. We can shut ourselves up in thought with those whom we have loved and lost — we can turn away in peace and freedom from all that is external, and though still active and beneficent, for ourselves we ask nothing, for everything that the heart has the power to enjoy is within our breast."

"Earnestness in life, even when carried to an extreme, is something very noble and great, but it must not be allowed to disturb the common business of life, else it will produce bitterness, producing injurious effects."

"My house and the things in it have always something pleasant to me. There is always a something about home which addresses us with a friendly air, and touches the heart, even after having just come from direct intercourse with objects that are great and beautiful."

"Everything that regards statesmanship and the interest of the world is in all outward respects of the greatest importance; it creates and destroys in a moment the happiness, even the very existence, of thousands, but when the wave of the moment has rushed past, and the storm has abated, its influence is lost, and even frequently disappears without leaving a trace behind. Many other things that are noiselessly influencing the thoughts and feelings often make far deeper and more lasting impressions on us. Man can for the most part keep himself very independent of all that does not trench on his private life — a very wise arrangement of Providence, since it gives a much greater security to human happiness."

"Death is only a word. Experience alone can first tell us what is the true meaning of the word. The appearance of the dying tells us nothing. What we see is merely the prelude to death. A dull unconsciousness is what strikes us. Whether this be so — how and when the spirit wakes to life again — this is what we wish to know, and which never can be known till it is experienced."

"Trees have about them something beautiful and attractive even to the fancy, since they cannot change their places, are witnesses of all the changes that take place around them; and as some reach a great age, they become, as it were, historical monuments, and like ourselves they have a life, growing and passing away — not being inanimate and unvarying like the fields and rivers. One sees them passing through various stages, and at last step by step approaching death, which makes them look still more like ourselves."

"Work, according to my feeling, is as much of a necessity to man as eating and sleeping. Even those who do nothing which to a sensible man can be called work, still imagine that they are doing something. The world possesses not a man who is an idler in his own eyes."

"Nature goes forward in her never-ending course, and cares nothing for the race of man that is ever passing before her. Whatever may be the painful and distressing events that happen, either in the direct course of her accustomed revolutions, or by some apparent deviation, she still goes on her way with stern indifference and apparent insensibility. Whether we suffer from some present sorrow, or from the fear of one impending, this thought has something deeply painful, which increases the bitterness of the inward grief — something that makes us pause and shudder. But when we extend our view — when the soul loses itself in universal contemplation — when man turns to reflection and resigns himself to the inevitable, a course alone worthy of him, then the eternal, unchangeable order of Nature has a comforting and peaceful influence. It even gives us here a resting-place, "a stationary pole-star amidst the flight of meteors," as has been beautifully expressed in a song of Schiller's. Man belongs to a great order of things not easily disturbed or thrown into confusion; and as this certainly leads to something higher, and at length to a point in which all doubts shall be resolved, all difficulties smoothed, and all the jarring tones of contradiction and discordance joined in one mighty harmony — he must also in this order attain to this point."

"There is nothing so selfish and heartless as the displeasure, or at least the kind of contemptuous aversion, with which men of distinction and wealth sometimes regard Sundays and holidays. Even the choice of the seventh day is certainly the wisest which could have been made. However it may seem to lie, and in one respect really may lie, within the power of the will to shorten or lengthen the usual period of labour, I am thoroughly convinced that the six days are the really true, fit, and adequate measure of time for work, whether as regards the physical strength of man or his perseverance in a uniform occupation. There is also something humane in the arrangement, by which those animals which assist man in his work rest along with him."

"Man is, above all, the central point of human action, and each man remains at last alone, so that what was in him and went forth from him is alone important. Man, during his life on earth, sympathising and active, is ever associated in his feelings with others; yet he treads alone the more important path, which leads over the confines of the earthly state: no one can accompany him there, though in every man there is the presentiment, that beyond the grave he will find again those who have gone before him, and will there gather around him again those whom he leaves behind. No man of affectionate feeling can be without this anticipation, yea, this firm belief, without giving up a large portion of his happiness, and that the purest and noblest."

"The men most to be pitied are those who have no command over themselves, who cannot do what they would, and who, even whilst they are performing virtuous deeds, do so from mean motives, from regard to happiness and mental satisfaction, fear of the reproaches of conscience, or else of future punishment. This is all very well and useful, supposing that man cannot be kept in the straight path by any other motives, but he who looks inwardly to the heart and soul can derive no satisfaction from such conduct. True nobility only exists when the good is sought for its own sake, either as a recognised law of pure duty, or from the feeling of the lofty dignity and constraining beauty of virtue. It is only these motives that show the disposition to be great and noble, and these alone react upon the character."

"It is incredible how important it is that the corporeal frame should be kept under the influence of constant, continuous, and unbroken order, and free from the impressions of vicissitude, which always more or less derange the corporeal functions. After all, it is continued temperance which sustains the body for the longest period of time, and which most surely preserves it free from sickness."

"The idea we form of a misfortune is ever somewhat different from the misfortune itself, when it appears in all its frightful certainty. We must trust in nothing so little, and must labour for nothing so unceasingly, as for the strengthening of our soul and for self-government, both of which are the only sure foundations of earthly happiness."

"What lies in the nature of things and is dependent on fate, it would be silly and unmanly to lose one’s rest and inward equilibrium in thinking of it."

"Providence certainly does not attend merely to the interests of individuals, but the profound wisdom of its counsels extends to the right ordering and betterment of all."

"I do not dread old age, and death I have, from a peculiarity of my constitution and from my youth, been accustomed to regard not simply as an event in human life but as something joyous. Such an occurrence cannot possibly excite feelings of regret in one who has meditated deeply on the destiny of man. My reckoning with the world has long been closed — I have nothing more to look for from length of life — I have no deep-laid plans extending to a distant futurity. I take any enjoyments gratefully from the hand of Providence, but would think it foolish to be so dependent upon them as to expect them to be of long continuance. My feelings are the precise central point in which I stand, and where my enjoyments are placed ; from anything external to myself I can derive no pleasure, and those thoughts and feelings are so peculiarly my own that I cannot imagine that they should not go with me. No one, however, can raise the veil which Providence has with profound wisdom drawn over the world beyond the grave."

"But the simple thought that the stars are far beyond and above everything earthly — the feeling that everything earthly in comparison fades from the view, and that man himself is utterly insignificant when contrasted with those worlds scattered over the firmament, while his fate, his enjoyments, and wants are as nothing — then again that the stars bind together all men and all periods of the world’s history, as they have seen all from the beginning of time, and will see all that shall come hereafter; — when I meditate on all these things, I lose myself in serene delight while contemplating the starry heavens. Certainly it is a truly sublime spectacle, when in the stillness of the night, in an unclouded sky, the stars, like the world’s choir, rise and set, and as it were divide existence into two portions: — the one, belonging to the earthly, is silent in the perfect stillness of night, whilst the other alone comes forth in sublimity, pomp, and majesty. Viewed in this light the starry heavens truly exercise a moral influence over us; and who can readily stray into the paths of immorality, if he has been accustomed to live amidst such thoughts and feelings, and frequently to dwell upon them? How are we entranced by the simple splendours of this wonderful drama of nature?"

"A taste for sculpture belongs to the best, purest, and noblest of our enjoyments; and we feel most reluctant to be separated from those forms, from which, however often we contemplate them, we derive renewed and indeed heightened pleasure."