--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man is not by any means of fixed and…" description: "\"Man is not by any means of fixed and enduring form (this, in spite of suspicions to the contrary on the part of their wise men, was the ideal of the an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72e/hermann-hesse-130_bridges_man-is-not-by-any-means-of-fixed-and-end_717050.png" --- # Man is not by any means of fixed and enduring form (this… ![“Man is not by any means of fixed and enduring form (this, in spite of suspicions to the contrary on the part of their wise men, was the ideal of the ancients). He is nothing else than the narrow and perilous bridge between nature and spirit. His innermost destiny drives him on to the spirit and to…” quote by Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72e/hermann-hesse-130_bridges_man-is-not-by-any-means-of-fixed-and-end_717050.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72e/hermann-hesse-130_bridges_man-is-not-by-any-means-of-fixed-and-end_717050.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72e/hermann-hesse-130_bridges_man-is-not-by-any-means-of-fixed-and-end_717050.png) > “Man is not by any means of fixed and enduring form (this, in spite of suspicions to the contrary on the part of their wise men, was the ideal of the ancients). He is nothing else than the narrow and perilous bridge between nature and spirit. His innermost destiny drives him on to the spirit and to God. His innermost longing draws him back to nature, the mother. Between the two forces his life hangs tremulous and irresolute.” [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human existence balances between nature and spirit, driven by inner longing toward both. **In simple terms:** Life is a bridge between nature and spirit. Key Takeaway Seek harmony of earthly and spiritual selves. Themes existence dualism spiritual quest Mood reflective poetic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - creative work - spiritual practice - environmental stewardship Key Concepts philosophical anthropology inner conflict nature‑spirit dichotomy Questions to Reflect On - How do you reconcile nature and spirit? - What inner longing guides your life? A Different Perspective Balancing both forces can cause inner tension and indecision. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridges/) [Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny/) [Draws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/draws/) [Endure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endure/) [Fixed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fixed/) [Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [God Innermost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-innermost-326638/) [Innermost Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innermost-destiny-5642938/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Man Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-means/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Spirit Innermost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit-innermost-5642939/) [Spite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spite/) [Suspicion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suspicion/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) ## Related quotes > [Joke I read somewhere: They say that God is the innermost dweller of all. Well I hope He likes enchiladas - cause that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meher-baba/joke-i-read-somewhere-they-say-that-god-is-the-innermost-dweller-of/) [Meher Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meher-baba/) > [The soul is kissed by God in its innermost regions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hildegard-of-bingen/the-soul-is-kissed-by-god-in-its-innermost-regions/) [Hildegard of Bingen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hildegard-of-bingen/) > [The highest God and the innermost God is one God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-holmes/the-highest-god-and-the-innermost-god-is-one-god/) [Ernest Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-holmes/) > [When you like someone, you like them in spite of their faults. When you love someone, you love them with their faults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/when-you-like-someone-you-like-them-in-spite-of-their-faults-when-you/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“Why, my man is created from the outside, that is, he is inauthentic in essence- he is always not-himself, because he is determined by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/witold-gombrowicz/why-my-man-is-created-from-the-outside-that-is-he-is-inauthentic-in/) [Witold Gombrowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/witold-gombrowicz/) > [“I'm no one important or famous, no matter. It is better to be loved by one person who knows your soul than millions who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-paul-evans/i-m-no-one-important-or-famous-no-matter-it-is-better-to-be-loved-by/) [Richard Paul Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-paul-evans/) > [I'll not meddle with it. It makes a man a coward: a man cannot steal but it accuseth him; a man cannot swear but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-ll-not-meddle-with-it-it-makes-a-man-a-coward-a-man-cannot-steal/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [For the woman, the man is a means: the end is always the child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/for-the-woman-the-man-is-a-means-the-end-is-always-the-child/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Sometimes I wonder if I've changed so much, my wife is even gonna recognize me whenever it is I get back to her, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-allan-collins/sometimes-i-wonder-if-i-ve-changed-so-much-my-wife-is-even-gonna/) [Max Allan Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-allan-collins/) > [“But hardly old. Went silver early, I’d say. That’s always attractive in a man. It means he has both power enough to have responsibilities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/but-hardly-old-went-silver-early-i-d-say-that-s-always-attractive-in/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [I've been told to 'man up' after talking about depression on Twitter. Man up means 'be strong because that's what a man is.' And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/limmy/i-ve-been-told-to-man-up-after-talking-about-depression-on-twitter/) [Limmy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/limmy/) > [It was a profound saying of Wilhelm Humboldt, that 'Man is man only by means of speech, but in order to invent speech he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lyell/it-was-a-profound-saying-of-wilhelm-humboldt-that-man-is-man-only-by/) [Charles Lyell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lyell/) > [“History does nothing, it possesses no immense wealth, it wages no battles. It is man, real, living man who does all that, who possesses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/history-does-nothing-it-possesses-no-immense-wealth-it-wages-no/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [It is not the greatness of a man's means that makes him independent, so much as the smallness of his wants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cobbett/it-is-not-the-greatness-of-a-man-s-means-that-makes-him-independent/) [William Cobbett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cobbett/) > [To me, man means awareness of death. I am not saying become afraid of death; that is not awareness. Just be aware of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/to-me-man-means-awareness-of-death-i-am-not-saying-become-afraid-of/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) ## More by Hermann Hesse > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Therefore, I see whatever exists as good, death is to me like life, sin like holiness, wisdom like foolishness, everything has to be as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/therefore-i-see-whatever-exists-as-good-death-is-to-me-like-life-sin/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [A home isn't just a roof over our heads. A home is a place where we feel loved and where we love others. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/a-home-isn-t-just-a-roof-over-our-heads-a-home-is-a-place-where-we/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Fortunately, like most children, I had learned what is most valuable, most indispensable for life before school years began, taught by apple trees, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/fortunately-like-most-children-i-had-learned-what-is-most-valuable/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“The mistaken and unhappy notion that a man is an enduring unity is known to you. It is also known to you that a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/the-mistaken-and-unhappy-notion-that-a-man-is-an-enduring-unity-is/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“... it would be better for our country and the world in general, if at least the few people who were capable of thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/it-would-be-better-for-our-country-and-the-world-in-general-if-at/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/the-bird-fights-its-way-out-of-the-egg-the-egg-is-the-world-who-would/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/everything-becomes-a-little-different-as-soon-as-it-is-spoken-out-loud/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [It may be important to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain and despise it. But I think it is only important to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/it-may-be-important-to-great-thinkers-to-examine-the-world-to-explain/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“..it is useless for you to build walls and dormitories and chapels and churches. Death looks through the window and laughs..”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/it-is-useless-for-you-to-build-walls-and-dormitories-and-chapels-and/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“When the world is at peace, when all things are tranquil and all men obey their superiors in all their courses, then music can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/when-the-world-is-at-peace-when-all-things-are-tranquil-and-all-men/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [A mere nothing suffices — and the lightning strikes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/a-mere-nothing-suffices-and-the-lightning-strikes/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“And if time is not real, then the dividing line that seems to lie between this world and eternity, between suffering and bliss, between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/and-if-time-is-not-real-then-the-dividing-line-that-seems-to-lie/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Beautiful was this world, looking at it thus, without searching, thus simply, thus childlike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/beautiful-was-this-world-looking-at-it-thus-without-searching-thus/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Were not the gods forms created like me and you, mortal, transient?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/were-not-the-gods-forms-created-like-me-and-you-mortal-transient/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) [Explore all 951 Hermann Hesse quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) ## More Bridges quotes > [Poetry has, in a way, been my bridge to my acting career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omari-hardwick/poetry-has-in-a-way-been-my-bridge-to-my-acting-career/) [Omari Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omari-hardwick/) > [Nothing teaches great writing like the very best books do. Yet, good teachers often help students cross that bridge, and I have to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/nothing-teaches-great-writing-like-the-very-best-books-do-yet-good/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [In my rear view mirror the sun is going down sinking behind bridges in the road and I think of all the good things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/in-my-rear-view-mirror-the-sun-is-going-down-sinking-behind-bridges/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/my-first-big-mistake-was-made-when-in-a-moment-of-weakness-i/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [The WPA was one of the most productive elements of FDR's alphabet soup of agencies because it put people to work building roads, bridges,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/the-wpa-was-one-of-the-most-productive-elements-of-fdr-s-alphabet/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you walk, try to think nothing! You can then obtain the silence of a streetlight or a bridge; stop thinking; after that, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/when-you-walk-try-to-think-nothing-you-can-then-obtain-the-silence-of/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [Al Pacino and Jeff Bridges do it for me in a big way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-scanlon/al-pacino-and-jeff-bridges-do-it-for-me-in-a-big-way/) [Angela Scanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-scanlon/) > [Instead of building castles against your enemies, build bridges for them to come to you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/instead-of-building-castles-against-your-enemies-build-bridges-for/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Instead of finding himself in nerd heaven—where every nerd gets fifty-eight virgins to role-play with—he woke up in Robert Wood Johnson with two broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/instead-of-finding-himself-in-nerd-heaven-where-every-nerd-gets-fifty/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [Each person is an island unto himself, in a very real sense; and he can only build bridges to other islands if he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rogers/each-person-is-an-island-unto-himself-in-a-very-real-sense-and-he-can/) [Carl Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rogers/) > [The real test of a bridge player isn’t in keeping out of trouble, but in escaping once he’s in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-sheinwold/the-real-test-of-a-bridge-player-isn-t-in-keeping-out-of-trouble-but/) [Alfred Sheinwold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-sheinwold/) > [The law ... allows rich as well as poor to sleep under bridges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/the-law-allows-rich-as-well-as-poor-to-sleep-under-bridges/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [Guys like Todd Bridges never overcame being a child star. You can't have any big failures. I've always felt regular. I played organized ball…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bow-wow/guys-like-todd-bridges-never-overcame-being-a-child-star-you-can-t/) [Bow Wow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bow-wow/) [Browse all 1,521 Bridges quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridges/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Man is not by any means of fixed and enduring form (this, in spite of suspicions to the contrary on the part of their wise men, was the ideal of the ancients). He is nothing else than the narrow and perilous bridge between nature and spirit. His innermost destiny drives him on to the spirit and to God. His innermost longing draws him back to nature, the mother. 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