Quotes About Understanding

What good would it do me if truth stood before me, cold and naked, not caring whether I recognized her or not?

The only fundamental basis for understanding is that one himself becomes what he understands and one understands only in proportion to becoming himself that which he understands.

On aina arveluttavaa leimata absurdiksi, käsittämättömäksi jokin, minkä joku toinen voi selittää helposti ymmärrettäväksi.

let us speak of the wish and thereby of the sufferings; let us properly linger over this, convinced that one may learn more profoundly and more reliably what the highest is by considering suffering than by observing achievements, where so much that is distracting is present.

If a person does not become what he understands, then he does not understand it either.

Mutismul cel mai sigur nu-i s? taci, ci s? vorbe?ti.

Hablando en términos humanos, amar es seguir la representación que el amado se haya formado acerca de lo que es el amor, y haciéndolo uno será amado.

el mundo entiende tan poco de entusiasmo como un financiero de caridad.

No puedo evitar sonreírme cuando pienso la habilidad con la que sé pronunciar su nombre, ese nombre, en un momento decisivo.

Our age is essentially one of understanding and reflection, without passion, momentarily bursting into enthusiasm, and shrewdly relapsing into repose. ... There is no more action or decision in our day than there is perilous delight in swimming in shallow waters.

Det er ganske sandt, hvad Philosophien siger, at Livet maa forstaaes baglænds. Men derover glemmer man den anden Sætning, at det maa leves forlænds. Hvilken Sætning, jo meer den gjennemtænkes, netop ender med, at Livet i Timeligheden aldrig ret bliver forstaaeligt, netop fordi jeg intet Øieblik kan faae fuldelig Ro til at indtage Stillingen: baglænds.

So soon as I talk I express the universal, and if I do not do so, no one can understand me.

If you can do that, if you can find exactly the place where the other is and begin there, you may perhaps have the luck to lead him to the place where you are. For to be a teacher does not mean simply to affirm that such a thing is so, or to deliver a lecture, etc. No, to be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner.

Wenn man die Philosophen von der Wirklichkeit reden hört, so ist das oft ebenso irreführend, wie wenn man im Schaufenster eines Trödlers auf einem Schild die Worte liest: Hier wird gerollt. Wollte man mit seiner Wäsche kommen und sie rollen lassen, so wäre man angeführt. Der Schild hängt nur zum Verkauf da.

We live our lives forward and understand them backward.

Sócrates tiene razón: cuando un hombre no hace lo correcto, es porque no lo entiende. Si lo entendiera, lo haría: por tanto, el pecado es ignorancia. El cristianismo tiene razón: el pecado es culpa. Porque cuando un hombre no hace lo correcto, es muy cierto que es porque no lo entiende, pues si lo entendiera… etc. Pero la razón por la que no entiende lo correcto es que no puede entenderlo, y no puede entenderlo porque no desea entenderlo. Y este es el punto.

To be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know, except in so far as a certain understanding must precede every action. The thing is to understand myself…the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die.

The matter is quite simple. The bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world?

Compel a person to an opinion, a conviction, a belief - in all eternity, that I cannot do. But one thing I can do: I can compel him to become aware.

Skal man hjelpe en annen, må man først finne ut hvor han er, og møte ham der. Dette er det første bud i all sann hjelpekunst.

There are handbooks for everything, and very soon education, all the world over, will consist in learning a greater or lesser number of comments by heart, and people will excel according to their capacity for singling out the various facts like a printer singling out the letters, but completely ignorant of the meaning of anything.

la fe […] es lo más grande que se pueda poseer; por eso al filosofía comete un fraude cuando nos ofrece otra cosa a cambio y habla despectivamente de la fe. La filosofía no puede ni debe darnos la fe, sino que debe comprenderse a sí misma, saber lo que está en grado de ofrecer, no ocultar nada y mucho menos birlarnos una cosa determinada, considerándola una nadería

People who do not know how to remain silent, do not know how to talk.

Aber Existieren ist etwas ganz anderes als Wissen.