Hermann Hesse

[therealUT]

Hesse is one of my favorite authors. Currently, I am reading a biography about him and just came across the following, regarding Hesse during the Great War:

"The attempt," he wrote his friend, "to apply love to matters political has failed." Wherever possible he longed to transcend the actualities of the fleeting present and to reach toward the timeless. For even a concept of "Europe" transcending individual borders in a new family of the spirit had ceased to be an ideal: "As long as men kill each other under Europe's leadership, any classification of people must be suspicious...I do not believe in Europe. I believe in humanity, only in the empire of the soul on earth in which all nations may share."

Hermann Hesse: Pilgrim of Crisis
Ralph Freedman

There is a lot in that half paragraph that could be of use if applied today:

1. The ideal of love and respect should, although, unfortunately, it does not, rule over matters of 'interest' and 'money'.

2. Classification of people is always suspicious. An individual should not want to be classified under a group and someone else should not apply a classification to an individual that said individual has not already applied to him/herself.

3. Nationalism, patriotism, jingoism, etc. are absurd notions. The eye should always be on humanity and 'the empire of the soul'.

 

[VOLatile]

I agree on all three points. I have no idea who Hesse is.

 

[therealUT]

I agree on all three points. I have no idea who Hesse is.

This makes me sad. He was a German author, early Twentieth Century. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature. His novels include:

Steppenwolf
Siddartha
Narcissus and Goldmund
Beneath the Wheel
The Glass Bead Game
Demian

I highly recommend reading at least the first two that I listed.

 

[Burhead]

Nationalism is a terrible and dangerous thing, so yeah I agree.

 

[VOLatile]

This makes me sad. He was a German author, early Twentieth Century. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature. His novels include:

Steppenwolf
Siddartha
Narcissus and Goldmund
Beneath the Wheel
The Glass Bead Game
Demian

I highly recommend reading at least the first two that I listed.

I'll definitely look into them. Steppenwolf and Siddhartha both sound very intriguing.

 

[PKT_VOL]

Hesse is one of my favorite authors. Currently, I am reading a biography about him and just came across the following, regarding Hesse during the Great War:



There is a lot in that half paragraph that could be of use if applied today:

1. The ideal of love and respect should, although, unfortunately, it does not, rule over matters of 'interest' and 'money'.

2. Classification of people is always suspicious. An individual should not want to be classified under a group and someone else should not apply a classification to an individual that said individual has not already applied to him/herself.

3. Nationalism, patriotism, jingoism, etc. are absurd notions. The eye should always be on humanity and 'the empire of the soul'.

Sounds a lot like Karl Popper's Open Society. Henri Bergson had similar ideals.

 

[bamacheats]

I'll definitely look into them. Steppenwolf and Siddhartha both sound very intriguing.

Teenwolf > Steppenwolf

Siddhartha is a sleeping pill.

 

[volinbham]

Born to be Wild is my favorite. It gets my motor running.