"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."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from GermanyAmbassadorsPhilosophers from GermanyDiplomats of GermanyLinguists from Germany
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
. Letter II. 19 (pp. 217-218)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilhelm_von_Humboldt
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Wilhelm von Humboldt
1767 – 1835
112 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Wilhelm von Humboldt →
Related Quotes
"A letter is a conversation between the present and the absent. Its fate is that it cannot last, but must pass away li…"
"Happiness passes away, leaving hardly the slightest trace behind, indeed can scarcely be called happiness, since noth…"
"I have, besides, a great love for the past. Only what refers to it is eternal and unchangeable like death, and at the…"
"It is certainly true that I am unable to forget or give up any one with whom I have been intimate; far from this, I f…"
"The fate of no man, not even the happiest, is free from struggles and privation; for true happiness is only then atta…"
"Women are in this respect more fortunate, and yet more unfortunate, than men — that most of their employments are of …"
"My house and the things in it have always something pleasant to me. There is always a something about home which addr…"
"I read the Indian poem for the first time when I was in my country estate in Silesia and, while doing so, I felt a se…"
"If the mind loves solitude, it has thereby acquired a loftier character, and it becomes still more noble when the tas…"
"Friendship and love require the deepest and most entire confidence, but souls of a high character demand not communic…"