Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Johann Gottfried Herder (German Critic, Poet)

Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744–1803) was a German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic who significantly contributed to anthropology, linguistics, and cultural studies. He is closely associated with the Enlightenment, Sturm und Drang, and Weimar Classicism. Herder is best known for his profound influence on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling and his contributions to the development of German Romanticism.

Born in Mohrungen, East Prussia, Herder pursued his studies in Königsberg, where he had the opportunity to meet notable figures like Immanuel Kant and Johann Georg Hamann. In 1764, Herder became a schoolteacher and assistant pastor in a church in Riga. In Strasbourg in 1769, he crossed paths with Goethe. Later, he served as a court preacher in Buckeburg (1770) and as the first preacher in Weimar (1776.)

Herder’s conviction that the most genuine poetry stems from the people found expression in various works, including his collection of folksongs titled Stimmen der Völker in ihren Liedern (1778–79, ‘Voices of the Peoples in Songs.’) He also explored the influence of poetry on manners in a treatise published in 1778 and delved into Hebrew poetry in his work Vom Geist der ebräischen Poesie (1782–83; The Spirit of Hebrew Poetry, 1833.) Herder’s other notable contributions include his version of the Cid (1805) and his magnum opus Ideen zur Geschichte der Menschheit (1784–91; Outlines of a Philosophy of the History of Man, 1800,) which emphasized the distinct characteristics and cultural expressions of different nations, thereby laying the foundation for the concept of cultural relativism.

More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Johann Gottfried Herder

The working of revolutions misleads me no more; it is as necessary to our race as its waves to the stream, that it may not be a stagnant marsh. Ever renewed in its forms, the genius of humanity blossoms.
—Johann Gottfried Herder
Topics: Revolution

Brave is the lion tamer, brave is the world subduer, but braver is the one who has subdued himself.
—Johann Gottfried Herder
Topics: Discipline

What of us lies in the hearts of others is our truest and deepest self.
—Johann Gottfried Herder
Topics: Heart

Friendship with the evil is like the shadow in the morning, decreasing every hour; but friendship with the good is like the evening shadows, increasing till the sun of life sets.
—Johann Gottfried Herder
Topics: Friendship

Touch not the flute when drums are sounding around; when fools have the word, the wise will be silent.
—Johann Gottfried Herder
Topics: Silence

We build on the ice, and write on the waves of the sea.—The waves roaring, pass away; the ice melts, and away goes our palace, like our thoughts.
—Johann Gottfried Herder

It is a hard but good law of fate, that as every evil, so every excessive power wears itself out.
—Johann Gottfried Herder

Say oh wise man how you have come to such knowledge? Because I was never ashamed to confess my ignorance and ask others.
—Johann Gottfried Herder
Topics: Knowledge

Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant. There is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks.
—Johann Gottfried Herder
Topics: Inspirational, Inspiration

Those that embrace the entire universe with love, for the most part love nothing, but their narrow selves.
—Johann Gottfried Herder
Topics: Love

Whoever perseveres will be crowned.
—Johann Gottfried Herder
Topics: Perseverance

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