Contentment Quote by Hermann Hesse
““I feel so bad in my childish soul that I smash my moldering lyre of thanksgiving in the face of the slumbering god of contentment and would rather feel the very devil burn in me than this warmth of a well-heated room. A wild longing for strong emotions and sensations seethes in me, a rage against this toneless, flat, normal and sterile life. I have a mad impluse to smash something, a warehouse, perhaps, or a cathedral, or myself (...)For what I have always hated and detested and cursed above all things was this contentment, this healthiness and comfort, this carefully preserved optimism of the middle classes, this fat and prosperous brood of mediocrity.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Demian by Hermann Hesse, 1919
The speaker rejects complacent comfort, craving intense, even painful, experiences over safe, ordinary life.
In simple terms: Rejects comfort, seeks intense feeling.
Key Takeaway
Embrace discomfort to feel alive.
Themes
discontent
intensity
rebellion
existential angst
Mood
restless
defiant
melancholic
Type
philosophical
existential
When to use this quote
- artistic creation
- personal crisis
- mental health
- social critique
Key Concepts
nihilism
existentialism
psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- What does true fulfillment look like for you?
- How can you channel intense emotions constructively?
A Different Perspective
Such yearning can lead to self‑destruction or alienation.
