What we can and should change is ourselves: our impatience, our egoism…

Hermann Hesse
349 citations
What we can and should change is ourselves: our impatience, our egoism (including intellectual egoism), our sense of injury, our lack of love and forbearance. I regard every other attempt to change the world, even if it springs from the best intentions, as futile.
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Writing is good, thinking is better. Cleverness is good, patience is better. ✨ Hermann Hesse, Sherab Chödzin (2002). Siddhartha: A New Translation, p.59, Shambhala Publications

What we can and should change is ourselves: our impatience, our egoism (including intellectual egoism), our sense of injury, our lack of love and forbearance. I regard every other attempt to change the world, even if it springs from the best intentions, as futile.

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