Meandering . . .

Today is the birthday of Hermann Hesse (July 2, 1877 – August 9, 1962), poet, novelist, and painter. He is best-known for his novels, Steppenwolf and Siddhartha. In 1946, Hermann Hesse received the Nobel Prize in Literature for his work The Glass Bead Game.

Here is another author whose books were banned. In 1939, Hermann Hesse's books were banned in Germany.

"Man's life seems to me like a long, weary night that would be intolerable if there were not occasionally flashes of light, the sudden brightness of which is so comforting and wonderful, that the moments of their appearance cancel out and justify the years of darkness." - Hermann Hesse

"It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is: each the other's opposite and complement." - Hermann Hesse

"It matters little that you suffer, so long as you feel alive with a sense of the close bond that connects all living things, so long as love does not die!" - Hermann Hesse


"Every man is more than just himself; he also represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the world's phenomena intersect, only once in this way and never again." - Hermann Hesse

"I do not consider myself less ignorant than most people. I have been and still am a seeker, but I have ceased to question stars and books; I have begun to listen to the teachings my blood whispers to me." - Hermann Hesse

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

"The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world." - Hermann Hesse

"The world, as it is now, wants to die, wants to perish — and it will." - Hermann Hesse

Hesse stamp images source (1)