Skip to content

Whoever wants music instead of noise, joy instead of pleasure, soul instead of gold, creative work instead of business, passion instead of foolery, finds no home in this trivial world of ours.

— Hermann Hesse Hermine in Steppenwolf (1927)

Another quote →

Topics

More quotes by Hermann Hesse

In each individual the spirit has become flesh, in each man the creation suffers, within each one a redeemer is nailed to the cross.

Demian (1919)

We cannot evade life's course, but we can school ourselves to be superior to fortune and also to look unflinchingly upon the most painful things.

Gertrude (1910)

The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The bird flies to God. The God's name is Abraxas.

Demian (1919)

Our god's name is Abraxas and he is God and Satan and he contains both the luminous and the dark world.

Demian (1919)

I realize today that nothing in the world is more distasteful to a man than to take the path that leads to himself.

Demian (1919)

All Hermann Hesse quotes →

You may also like

I don't think that corporations are these big bogeymen that a lot of people paint them to be.

Krist Novoselic

An artisan busies himself with his work for three hours each day and spends nine hours in study.

Maimonides Mishneh Torah (1180)

The rule of my life is to make business a pleasure and pleasure my business.

Aaron Burr

A business of high principle generates greater drive and effectiveness because people know that they can do the right thing decisively and with confidence.

Marvin Bower The Will to Manage (1966)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Hermann Hesse (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.