“There must be a seed of every good thing in the character of men, otherwise no one can bring it out.”
Part III : Selection on Education from Kant's other Writings, Ch. I Pedagogical Fragments, # 13
The Educational Theory of Immanuel Kant (1904)
Context: There must be a seed of every good thing in the character of men, otherwise no one can bring it out. Lacking that, analogous motives, honor, etc., are substituted. Parents are in the habit of looking out for the inclinations, for the talents and dexterity, perhaps for the disposition of their children, and not at all for their heart or character.
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Immanuel Kant 200
German philosopher 1724–1804Related quotes

Source: The Prince (1513), Ch. 3 (as translated by RM Adams). Variants [these can seem to generalize the circumstances in ways that the translation above does not.]: The Romans, foreseeing troubles, dealt with them at once, and, even to avoid a war, would not let them come to a head, for they knew that war is not to be avoided, but is only put off to the advantage of others.
There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.
Context: The Romans never allowed a trouble spot to remain simply to avoid going to war over it, because they knew that wars don't just go away, they are only postponed to someone else's advantage. Therefore, they made war with Philip and Antiochus in Greece, in order not to have to fight them in Italy... They never went by that saying which you constantly hear from the wiseacres of our day, that time heals all things. They trusted rather their own character and prudence — knowing perfectly well that time contains the seeds of all things, good as well as bad.

“Axiom: Novel must have either one living character or a perfect pattern: fails otherwise.”
Source: Commonplace Book (1985), p. 6
“The seeds of civilization are in every culture, but it is city life that brings them to fruition.”
Source: Philosophical Sketches (1962), Ch. 6, p. 101
“This Divine Seed is in every person good or bad.”
Social Law in the Spiritual World (1904)
Context: The Inner Light is the doctrine that there is something Divine, "something of God," in the human soul.
Five words are used indiscriminately to name this Divine something: "The Light," "The Seed," "Christ within," "The Spirit," "That of God in you." This Divine Seed is in every person good or bad.