Georg Hegel Quotes

"Mere goodness can achieve little against the power of nature."

"Amid the pressure of great events, a general principle gives no help."

"The history of the world is none other than the progress of the consciousness of freedom."

"The courage of the truth is the first condition of philosophic study."

"America is, therefore the land of the future, where, in the ages that lie before us, the burden of the World's history shall reveal itself. It is a land of desire for all those who are weary of the historical lumber-room of Old Europe."

"Animals are in possession of themselves; their soul is in possession of their body. But they have no right to their life, because they do not will it."

"No man is a hero to his valet. This is not because the hero is no hero, but because the valet is a valet."

"Once the state has been founded, there can no longer be any heroes. They come on the scene only in uncivilized conditions."

"We may affirm absolutely that nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion."

"The true courage of civilized nations is readiness for sacrifice in the service of the state, so that the individual counts as only one amongst many. The important thing here is not personal mettle but aligning oneself with the universal."

"In history an additional result is commonly produced by human actions beyond that which they aim at and obtain -- that which they immediately recognize and desire. They gratify their own interest; but something further is thereby accomplished, latent in the actions in question, though not present to their consciousness, and not included in their design."

"The Few assume to be the deputies, but they are often only the despoilers of the Many."

"Education is the art of making man ethical."