Hesse's Wisdom (Collection of Golden Sayings)

Author: Lin Yu, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features: Comforting the years of life that have passed without much meaning, yet life holds no interest. Currently, there are no important matters, and no sense of joy. The endless forms of life flow past me, but none are allowed to stay, none have treated me gently. Yet even as they drift away from my grasp, my heart remains strangely curious. Far beyond all ages, I feel the passion of life. Though life's passion lacks meaning and purpose, I know all near and far, as if a child half-jokingly turns a moment into eternity. Suddenly, he feels he can gaze across his life so far—it has long been shattered into countless tiny, meaningless fragments. He tries to trace the path he has walked, reviewing his entire married life. It seems like a long, tedious road, like a silent street with only one man, covered in filth, dragging heavy luggage alone. The radiance of youth, the emerald treetops rustling in the mountain wind, fades into the dust at the horizon. So that's how it was; he too had been young. Unlike ordinary young people, he possessed great dreams, many hopes for life and himself. But thereafter, he had nothing left but dust and heavy luggage, endless streets, scorching heat, and tired legs. Only in his dry chest lies a lingering, unawakened, and stale nostalgia—that is his life. Kurain and Wagner I saw the reflection of life in gambling. Even in life, there are things identical to gambling, transcending the profound truth of unfathomable principles, granting us the strongest magic and unleashing the greatest power. But when this extraordinary intuition becomes numb, it interferes with judgment and wisdom. Soon, though he may find excuses to resist, the result will inevitably be complete disregard for our existence. The Patient Life is profoundly meaningful in the very moment it loses all meaning and significance. Kurain and Wagner I am just like you, standing helplessly and listlessly before this cruel life, and holding the belief that I can overcome this meaninglessness through the repeated significance of my life. Whether life has meaning is not my responsibility; I myself believe that how to live this one life is my responsibility. I think you young people very much want to give up this responsibility. Letters The Way Inward The discoverer of the Way Inward finds it in the burning self-immersion. His heart chooses God and the world only through images and metaphors. The one who anticipates the core of wisdom, for him, all actions...