All Wilhelm von Humboldt Quotes
- I am more and more convinced that our happiness or our unhappiness depends far more on the way we meet the events of life than… Attitude
- Freedom is but the possibility of a various and indefinite activity; while government, or the exercise of dominion, is a single, yet real activity. The… Absence
- Government, religion, property, books, are nothing but the scaffolding to build men. Earth holds up to her master no fruit like the finished man. Book
- It is usually more important how a man meets his fate than what it is. Fate
- How a person masters his or her fate is more important than what that fate is. Fate
- War seems to be one of the most salutary phenomena for the culture of human nature; and it is not without regret that I see… Culture
- If it were possible to make an accurate calculation of the evils which police regulations occasion, and of those which they prevent, the number of… Accurate
- Language makes infinite use of finite media. Finite
- Absolutely nothing is so important for a nation's culture as its language. Absolutely
- Man is more disposed to domination than freedom; and a structure of dominion not only gladdens the eye of the master who rears and protects… Disposed
- If it were not somewhat fanciful to suppose that every human excellence is presented, as it were, in one kind of being, we might believe… Believe
- Possession, it is true, crowns exertion with rest; but it is only in the illusions of fancy that it has power to charm us. Charm
- The sensual and spiritual are linked together by a mysterious bond, sensed by our emotions, though hidden from our eyes. To this double nature of… All
- If we glance at the most important revolutions in history, we see at once that the greatest number of these originated in the periodical revolutions… Glance
- The government is best which makes itself unnecessary. Best
- Coercion may prevent many transgressions; but it robs even actions which are legal of a part of their beauty. Freedom may lead to many transgressions,… Action
- Life, in all ranks and situations, is an outward occupation, an actual and active work. Active
- It is an absolutely vain endeavor to attempt to reconstruct or even comprehend the nature of a human being by simply knowing the forces which… Absolutely
- Results are nothing; the energies which produce them and which again spring from them are everything. Energies
- If we reason that we want happiness for others, not for ourselves, then we ought justly to be suspected of failing to recognize human nature… Failing