1,099 Quotes by Hermann Hesse

All higher humor begins with ceasing to take oneself seriously.

Every sin already carries grace within in, all small children are potential old men, all sucklings have death within them, all dying people - eternal life. The Buddha exists in the robber and dice player; the robber exists in the Brahmin.

In every truth, the opposite is equally true. A truth can only be expressed and enveloped in words if it is one-sided.

As far as teachers are concerned, they define young geniuses as those who are bad, disrespectful, smoke at fourteen, fall in love at fifteen, can be found at sixteen hanging out in bars, read forbidden books, write scandalous essays, occasionally stare down a teacher in class, are marked in the attendance book as rebels, and are budding candidates for room-arrest.

Things are going downhill with you!′ he said to himself, and laughed about it, and as he was saying it, he happened to glance at the river, and he also saw the river going downhill, always moving on downhill, and singing and being happy through it all.

There is a miracle in every new beginning.

Examine a person closely enough and you know more about him than he does himself.

The kind of person we want to develop, the kind of person we aim to become, would at any time be able to exchange his discipline or art for any other.

Therefore, it seems to me that everything that exists is good – death as well as life, sin as well as holiness, wisdom as well as folly. Everything is necessary, everything needs only my agreement, my assent, my loving understanding; then all is well with me and nothing can harm me.