I am in truth the Steppenwolf that I often call myself; that beast astray that finds neither home nor joy nor nourishment in a world that is strange and incomprehensible to him.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a deep sense of alienation and the search for identity in an incomprehensible world.
Hermann Hesse, in this quote, portrays the internal struggle of an individual who feels disconnected from the world around them. The metaphor of the 'Steppenwolf' symbolizes a duality of being both human and beast, reflecting the complexities of self-identity, the search for belonging, and the existential challenges faced in an unfamiliar and overwhelming environment. It encapsulates the feeling of not finding fulfillment or peace in life, emphasizing the challenges of understanding oneself amid a chaotic world.
In practice
In a speech about finding one's path, this quote can illustrate the struggle many face in their journey.
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 — 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.
Dark, dark! The horror of darkness, like a shroud, wraps me and bears me on through mist and cloud.
I am ashamed to be a member of the human race but I don't want to add any more to that shame, I want to scrape a little of it off.
Each society is a hero system which promises victory over evil and death.
There are some kinds of Christianity that insist you have to believe literally in doctrine. The Gnostic gospels open out the complexity and multiplicity of approaches to this. If you think the story of the virgin birth is mistranslated, for instance, it doesn't mean you have to throw out the whole thing.
Our own grandchildren may demonstrate that-sometimes- Gigantic is Beautiful.
I think where I am not, therefore I am where I do not think. I am not whenever I am the plaything of my thought; I think of what I am where I do not think to think.
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