1,099 Quotes by Hermann Hesse

Each man had only one genuine vocation to find the way to himself

Opinions mean nothing; they may be beautiful or ugly, clever or foolish, anyone can embrace or reject them.

What constitutes a real, live human being is more of a mystery than ever these days, and men each one of whom is a valuable, unique experiment on the part of nature are shot down wholesale.

I hope death will be a great happiness, a happiness as great as that of love, fulfilled love

Often it is the most deserving people who cannot help loving those who destroy them.

You should never be afraid of people... such fear can destroy us completely. You've simply got to get rid of it, if you want to turn into someone decent. You understand that, don't you?

The greatest threat to our world and its peace comes from those who want war, who prepare for it, and who, by holding out vague promises of future peace or by instilling fear of foreign aggression, try to make us accomplices to their plans.

When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. . . . Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all.

The art of love-giving and taking become one.