“For although in a certain sense and for light-minded persons non-existent things can be more easily and irresponsibly represented in words than existing things, for the serious and conscientious historian it is just the reverse.”

—  Hermann Hesse, book The Glass Bead Game

Motto of the work written by Hesse, and attributed to an "Albertus Secundus"
The Glass Bead Game (1943)
Context: For although in a certain sense and for light-minded persons non-existent things can be more easily and irresponsibly represented in words than existing things, for the serious and conscientious historian it is just the reverse. Nothing is harder, yet nothing is more necessary, than to speak of certain things whose existence is neither demonstrable nor probable. The very fact that serious and conscientious men treat them as existing things brings them a step closer to existence and to the possibility of being born.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "For although in a certain sense and for light-minded persons non-existent things can be more easily and irresponsibly r…" by Hermann Hesse?
Hermann Hesse photo
Hermann Hesse168
German writer 1877–1962

Related quotes

Maimónides photo

“The so-called evils are evils only in relation to a certain thing, and that which is evil in relation to a certain existing thing, either includes the non-existence of that thing or the non-existence of some of its good conditions.”

Maimónides book The Guide for the Perplexed

Source: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.10

Hermann Hesse photo

“The very fact that serious and conscientious men treat them as existing things brings them a step closer to existence and to the possibility of being born.”

Hermann Hesse book The Glass Bead Game

Motto of the work written by Hesse, and attributed to an "Albertus Secundus"
The Glass Bead Game (1943)
Context: For although in a certain sense and for light-minded persons non-existent things can be more easily and irresponsibly represented in words than existing things, for the serious and conscientious historian it is just the reverse. Nothing is harder, yet nothing is more necessary, than to speak of certain things whose existence is neither demonstrable nor probable. The very fact that serious and conscientious men treat them as existing things brings them a step closer to existence and to the possibility of being born.

Eugene J. Martin photo

“Things differ because of the time in which they exist. In time, things opposite will reverse themselves. Also, judging does the opposite of clearing it confuses. Now, if any of this you judged to be non-sense, then perhaps it’s not so obvious that judging is the worst escort perception can have.”

Eugene J. Martin (1938–2005) American artist

Annotated Drawings by Eugene J. Martin: 1977-1978

G. K. Chesterton photo

“There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person.”

G. K. Chesterton book Heretics

Heretics (1905)

George Bernard Shaw photo

“Perhaps woman's art is of woman's life a thing apart, 'tis man's whole existence; just as love is said to be the reverse — though it isn't.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright

1900s, Love Among the Artists (1900)

“As I grow older,
I notice certain things that seemed non-existent before…
How did I miss these delicious and beautiful things in Life?
Every day is a journey and
we can never know where we will end up.”

Stephie Pahlavi Zan

Arthur Rimbaud photo

“Love… no such thing.

Whatever it is that binds families and married couples together, that's not love. That's stupidity or selfishness or fear. Love doesn't exist.

Self interest exists, attachment based on personal gain exists, complacency exists. But not love. Love has to be reinvented, that’s certain.”

Arthur Rimbaud (1854–1891) French Decadent and Symbolist poet

Source: A Season in Hell/The Drunken Boat

Jiddu Krishnamurti photo

“Conflict exists only when there are two opposing things: fear and non-fear, violence and non-violence.”

Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) Indian spiritual philosopher

5th Public Talk, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (30 May 1967)
1960s

“Natural order was not invented by the human mind or set up by certain perceptive powers… The existence of order presupposes the existence of organizing intelligence. Such intelligence can be none other than God's.”

Pierre-Paul Grassé (1895–1985) French zoologist

Dieu existe? Oui http://books.google.com.mx/books/about/Dieu_existe_Oui.html?id=TBUCHQAACAAJ&amp;redir_esc=y (1979). Paris. Stock. Christian Chabanis, p. 94. <br class="br">Original: L’ordre naturel n’est pas une invention de l’esprit humain et une mise en place de certaines propriétés d’observation... Qui dit ordre dit intelligence organisatrice. Cette intelligence ne peut être que celle de Dieu.

Herodotus photo

“Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.”

Herodotus (-484–-425 BC) ancient Greek historian, often considered as the first historian

This statement is not to be found in the works of Herodotus. It appears in the acknowledgements to Mark Twain's A Horse's Tale (1907) preceded by the words "Herodotus says", but Twain was simply summarizing what he took to be Herodotus' attitude to historiography.
Misattributed

Related topics