Zitate von Wilhelm Von Humboldt
Wilhelm Von Humboldt
Geburtstag: 22. Juni 1767
Todesdatum: 8. April 1835
Andere Namen:Вильгельм фон Гумбольдт
Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Carl Ferdinand von Humboldt war ein preußischer Gelehrter, Schriftsteller und Staatsmann. Als Bildungsreformer initiierte er die Neuorganisation des Bildungswesens im Geiste des Neuhumanismus und betrieb die Gründung der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin.
Er zählt zu den großen, fortwirkend einflussreichen Persönlichkeiten in der deutschen Kulturgeschichte. Betrachtet man ihn in der Gemeinschaft mit seinem Bruder Alexander von Humboldt, so wird man kaum ein zweites Geschwisterpaar finden, das die eigene geschichtliche Epoche mit solchem Forscherdrang und mit solch universeller Gelehrsamkeit geprägt hat wie diese beiden. Während Alexander dabei vor allem – aber keineswegs nur – der naturwissenschaftlichen Forschung neue Horizonte erschlossen hat, lagen die Schwerpunkte für Wilhelm in der Beschäftigung mit kulturwissenschaftlichen Zusammenhängen wie der Bildungsproblematik, der Staatstheorie, der analytischen Betrachtung von Sprache, Literatur und Kunst sowie in aktiver politischer Mitgestaltung als Reformmotor im Schul- und Universitätswesen und als preußischer Diplomat.
Zitate Wilhelm Von Humboldt
„... gewiß ist es fast noch wichtiger, wie der Mensch das Schicksal nimmt, als wie sein Schicksal ist.“
— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
Briefe an eine Freundin, Burgörner, den 6. September 1825. Projekt Gutenberg
„Denn wem sich der Mensch widmet, zu dem gelangt er nach dem Tode.“
— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
S.22. VIII.13. IX.25. XVI.19.
„Es ist unglaublich, wie viel Kraft die Seele dem Körper zu leihen vermag.“
— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
Briefe an eine Freundin
„Ich finde und habe immer gefunden, daß sich ein Buch gerade vorzugsweise zu einem freundschaftlichen Geschenk eignet. Man liest es oft, man kehrt oft dazu zurück, man nahet sich ihm aber nur in ausgewählten Momenten, braucht es nicht wie eine Tasse, ein Glas, einen Hausrath, so in jedem gleichgültigen Augenblick des Lebens, und erinnert sich so immer des Freundes im Augenblick eines würdigen Genusses.“
— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
Briefe an eine Freundin, 21. Brief: Tegel, den 4. December 1830. 5. Auflage, 2. Theil. Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1853. S. 103f. Google Books
„Ich habe lange genug an der offenen Tür des Todes gestanden; es wird Zeit hinauszutreten und sie hinter mir zuzumachen.“
— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
Letzte Worte als er in den Armen seines Bruders starb
„Alles, was wir mit Wärme und Enthusiasmus ergreifen, ist eine Art der Liebe.“
— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
Ideen über Staatsverfassung
„To inquire and to create;—these are the grand centres around which all human pursuits revolve,“
— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
Context: To inquire and to create;—these are the grand centres around which all human pursuits revolve, or at least to these objects do they all more or less directly refer.
Ch. 8
„Man cannot approach this purely objective realm other than through his cognitive and sensory powers, that is, in a subjective manner.“
— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
Context: The interdependence of word and idea shows clearly that languages are not actually means of representing a truth already known, but rather of discovering the previously unknown. Their diversity is not one of sounds and signs, but a diversity of world perspectives [Weltansichten]. … The sum of the knowable, as the field to be tilled by the human mind, lies among all languages, independent of them, in the middle. Man cannot approach this purely objective realm other than through his cognitive and sensory powers, that is, in a subjective manner.
As quoted in The Linguistic Relativity Principle and Humboldtian Ethnolinguistics : A History And Appraisal (1963) by Robert Lee Miller, and The Linguistic Turn in Hermeneutic Philosophy (2002) by Cristina Lafont
„The interdependence of word and idea shows clearly that languages are not actually means of representing a truth already known, but rather of discovering the previously unknown. Their diversity is not one of sounds and signs, but a diversity of world perspectives [Weltansichten].“
— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
Context: The interdependence of word and idea shows clearly that languages are not actually means of representing a truth already known, but rather of discovering the previously unknown. Their diversity is not one of sounds and signs, but a diversity of world perspectives [Weltansichten]. … The sum of the knowable, as the field to be tilled by the human mind, lies among all languages, independent of them, in the middle. Man cannot approach this purely objective realm other than through his cognitive and sensory powers, that is, in a subjective manner.
As quoted in The Linguistic Relativity Principle and Humboldtian Ethnolinguistics : A History And Appraisal (1963) by Robert Lee Miller, and The Linguistic Turn in Hermeneutic Philosophy (2002) by Cristina Lafont
„The incapacity for freedom can only arise from a want of moral and intellectual power; to elevate this power is the only way to counteract this want; but to do this presupposes the exercise of that power, and this exercise presupposes the freedom which awakens spontaneous activity.“
— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
Context: The incapacity for freedom can only arise from a want of moral and intellectual power; to elevate this power is the only way to counteract this want; but to do this presupposes the exercise of that power, and this exercise presupposes the freedom which awakens spontaneous activity. Only it is clear we cannot call it giving freedom, when fetters are unloosed which are not felt as such by him who wears them. But of no man on earth—however neglected by nature, and however degraded by circumstances—is this true of all the bonds which oppress and enthral him. Let us undo them one by one, as the feeling of freedom awakens in men’s hearts, and we shall hasten progress at every step. There may still be great difficulties in being able to recognize the symptoms of this awakening. But these do not lie in the theory so much as in its execution, which, it is evident, never admits of special rules, but in this case, as in every other, is the work of genius alone.
Ch. 16
„There are undeniably certain kinds of knowledge that must be of a general nature and, more importantly, a certain cultivation of the mind and character that nobody can afford to be without.“
— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
Context: There are undeniably certain kinds of knowledge that must be of a general nature and, more importantly, a certain cultivation of the mind and character that nobody can afford to be without. People obviously cannot be good craftworkers, merchants, soldiers or businessmen unless, regardless of their occupation, they are good, upstanding and – according to their condition – well-informed human beings and citizens. If this basis is laid through schooling, vocational skills are easily acquired later on, and a person is always free to move from one occupation to another, as so often happens in life.
As quoted in Wilhelm von Humboldt (1970), by P. Berglar, p. 87, and "Profiles of Educators: Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835)" by Karl-Heinz Günther, in Prospects, Vol. 18, Issue 1 (March 1988)
