How beautiful the world was when one looked at it, without searching... just looked, simply and innocently.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the beauty of the world when observed with an open and innocent perspective, free from preconceived notions.
Hermann Hesse's quote reflects the idea that genuine appreciation of the world around us comes when we observe it without the filters of judgment or expectation. In a society often clouded by distractions and biases, approaching the world with simplicity and innocence allows us to experience its inherent beauty more profoundly. It encourages a mindset of mindfulness and presence, which can unveil the wonders that lie in everyday life.
In practice
In a discussion about the importance of slowing down and appreciating life, I shared this quote to emphasize the need for mindfulness.
I shall no longer be instructed by the Yoga Veda or the Aharva Veda, or the ascetics, or any other doctrine whatsoever. I shall learn from myself, be a pupil of myself; I shall get to know myself, the mystery of Siddhartha." He looked around as if he were seeing the world for the first time.
That is where my dearest and brightest dreams have ranged β to hear for the duration of a heartbeat the universe and the totality of life in its mysterious, innate harmony.
I, also, would like to look and smile, sit and walk like that, so free, so worthy, so restrained, so candid, so childlike and mysterious. A man only looks and walks like that when he has conquered his Self. I also will conquer my Self.
You're quite right there," he said. "I have practiced abstinence myself for years, and had my time of fasting, too, but now I find myself once more beneath the sign of Aquarius, a dark and humid constellation.
I call that man awake who, with conscious knowledge and understanding, can perceive the deep unreasoning powers in his soul, his whole innermost strength, desire and weakness, and knows how to reckon with himself.
Despair is the result of each earnest attempt to go through life with virtue, justice and understanding, and to fulfill their requirements. Children live on one side of despair, the awakened on the other side.
Imitation is the sincerest flattery.
I'm always fascinated by the way memory diffuses fact.
War used to be something you could stand on the nearby hill and watch. Now we have total war; everybody's in it. We have total economics as well. Everything affects everybody. The Malaysian currency shakes, and people around the world are seriously affected.
In other words, a person who is fanatic in matters of religion, and clings to certain ideas about the nature of God and the universe, becomes a person who has no faith at all.
When I go to hell, I mean to carry a bribe: for look you, good gifts evermore make way for the worst persons.
There's sadness to anyone that dies before their time, and specifically ones that seem to affect people in a positive way. It doesn't matter if it's Whitney Houston or a nameless, faceless person on the street. That's just as big of a tragedy for me.
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