32 Contemplative Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Quotes

Last updated on Aug 27th, 2023

32 Contemplative Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Quotes

This is an up-to-date list of the best Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel quotes about history, life, truth, freedom, and the state.

Table of Contents
  1. 10 Famous Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Quotes
  2. Hegel Quotes on Life
  3. Hegel Quotes about History
  4. Hegel Quotes on Truth and Freedom
  5. Hegel Quotes about the State and Government
  6. Hegel Quotes on Knowledge
  7. Who Was Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel?

10 Famous Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Quotes

Nothing great in the World has been accomplished without passion. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Lectures on the Philosophy of History Quotes)
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Nothing great in the World has been accomplished without passion.Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1837), (Henry G. Bohn, ed. 1857), Introduction, Page 24

An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking. To generalize means to think. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Elements of the Philosophy of Right Quotes)
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An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking. To generalize means to think.Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820), (Oxford University Press, ed. 1942), Additions, No. 4, Page 226

Philosophy is by its nature something esoteric, neither made for the mob nor capable of being prepared for the mob. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Quotes (Philosophy Quotes)
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Philosophy is by its nature something esoteric, neither made for the mob nor capable of being prepared for the mob.Hegel: A Reinterpretation by Walter Kaufmann (Dobleday & Co., 1966), Page 56

Amid the pressure of great events, a general principle gives no help. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Lectures on the Philosophy of History Quotes)
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Amid the pressure of great events, a general principle gives no help.Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1837), (Henry G. Bohn, ed. 1857), Introduction, Page 6

The very fact that something is determined as a limitation implies that the limitation is already transcended. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Science of Logic Quotes)
5

The very fact that something is determined as a limitation implies that the limitation is already transcended.Science of Logic (1816), (George Allen & Unwin, ed. 1969), Volume I, Page 134

The richer in determinateness and, therefore, in relationships thoughts become, the more confused and also the more arbitrary and meaningless becomes their representation in such forms as numbers. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Science of Logic Quotes)
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The richer in determinateness and, therefore, in relationships thoughts become, the more confused and also the more arbitrary and meaningless becomes their representation in such forms as numbers.Science of Logic (1816), (George Allen & Unwin, ed. 1969), Volume I, Page 215

To him who looks upon the world rationally, the world in its turn presents a rational aspect. The relation is mutual. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Lectures on the Philosophy of History Quotes)
7

To him who looks upon the world rationally, the world in its turn presents a rational aspect. The relation is mutual.Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1837), (Henry G. Bohn, ed. 1857), Introduction, Page 11

Mere goodness can achieve little against the power of nature. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Elements of the Philosophy of Right Quotes)
8

Mere goodness can achieve little against the power of nature.Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820), (Oxford University Press, ed. 1942), Additions, No. 58. Paragraph 93, Page 245

Personality is that which struggles to lift itself above this restriction and to give itself reality, or in other words to claim that external world as its own. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Elements of the Philosophy of Right Quotes)
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Personality is that which struggles to lift itself above this restriction and to give itself reality, or in other words to claim that external world as its own.Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820), (Oxford University Press, ed. 1942), Part I, Paragraph 39, Page 38

To make abstractions hold good in actuality means to destroy actuality. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Lectures on the Philosophy of History Quotes)
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To make abstractions hold good in actuality means to destroy actuality.Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1837), (K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., ed. 1896), Volume III, Part III, Section III, Page 425

Hegel Quotes on Life

Life is essentially the concept which realises itself only through self-division and reunification. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Philosophy of Nature Quotes, Life Quotes)
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Life is essentially the concept which realises itself only through self-division and reunification.Philosophy of Nature (1817)

Life has a value only when it has something valuable as its object. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Lectures on the Philosophy of History Quotes, Life Quotes)
12

Life has a value only when it has something valuable as its object.Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1837), (Henry G. Bohn, ed. 1857), Introduction, Page 100

I possess my life and my body, like other things, only in so far as my will is in them. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Elements of the Philosophy of Right Quotes)
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I possess my life and my body, like other things, only in so far as my will is in them.Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820), (Oxford University Press, ed. 1942), Part I, Paragraph 47, Page 43

To be independent of public opinion is the first formal condition of achieving anything great or rational whether in life or in science. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Elements of the Philosophy of Right Quotes)
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To be independent of public opinion is the first formal condition of achieving anything great or rational whether in life or in science.Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820), (Oxford University Press, ed. 1942), Part III, Paragraph 318, Page 205

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People who are too fastidious towards the finite, never reach actuality, but lie idle in abstractions, till their light gradually dies away.Science of Logic (1816), (Oxford: Clarendon Press, ed. 1874), Chapter VII. The Doctrine of Being, Page 148

Only what is living feels a lack. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Philosophy of Nature Quotes)
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Only what is living feels a lack.Philosophy of Nature (1817), (Oxford University Press, ed. 1970), Page 385

Animals are in possession of themselves; their soul is in possession of their body. But they have no right to their life, because they do not will it. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Elements of the Philosophy of Right Quotes)
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Animals are in possession of themselves; their soul is in possession of their body. But they have no right to their life, because they do not will it.Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820), (Oxford University Press, ed. 1942), Additions, No. 28. Paragraph 47, Page 237

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Hegel Quotes about History

What experience and history teach is this, - that peoples and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Lectures on the Philosophy of History Quotes)
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What experience and history teach is this, – that peoples and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1837), (Henry G. Bohn, ed. 1857), Introduction, Page 7

The history of the world is none other than the progress of the consciousness of freedom. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Lectures on the Philosophy of History Quotes)
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The history of the world is none other than the progress of the consciousness of freedom.Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1837), (Henry G. Bohn, ed. 1857), Introduction, Page 19

History of the world which is the world's court of judgement. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Elements of the Philosophy of Right Quotes)
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History of the world which is the world’s court of judgement.Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820), (Oxford University Press, ed. 1942), Part III, Paragraph 340, Page 217

The History of the World is not the theatre of happiness. Periods of happiness are blank pages in it, for they are periods of harmony, periods when the antithesis is in abeyance. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Lectures on the Philosophy of History Quotes)
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The History of the World is not the theatre of happiness. Periods of happiness are blank pages in it, for they are periods of harmony, periods when the antithesis is in abeyance.Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1837), (Henry G. Bohn, ed. 1857), Introduction, Page 28

Hegel Quotes on Truth and Freedom

Truth in philosophy means that concept and external reality correspond. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Elements of the Philosophy of Right Quotes)
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Truth in philosophy means that concept and external reality correspond.Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820), (Oxford University Press, ed. 1942), Additions, No. 16. Paragraph 21, Page 231

Freedom is the truth of necessity. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Science of Logic Quotes, Freedom Quotes)
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Freedom is the truth of necessity.Science of Logic (1816), (George Allen & Unwin, ed. 1969), Volume II, Page 580

When liberty is mentioned, we must always be careful to observe whether it is not really the assertion of private interests which is thereby designated. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Lectures on the Philosophy of History Quotes)
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When liberty is mentioned, we must always be careful to observe whether it is not really the assertion of private interests which is thereby designated.Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1837), (Henry G. Bohn, ed. 1857), Part IV, Section III, Chapter II, Page 448

Hegel Quotes about the State and Government

Once the state has been founded, there can no longer be any heroes. They come on the scene only in uncivilized conditions. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Elements of the Philosophy of Right Quotes)
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Once the state has been founded, there can no longer be any heroes. They come on the scene only in uncivilized conditions.Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820), (Oxford University Press, ed. 1942), Additions, No. 58. Paragraph 93, Page 245

The Few assume to be the deputies, but they are often only the despoilers of the Many. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Lectures on the Philosophy of History Quotes)
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The Few assume to be the deputies, but they are often only the despoilers of the Many.Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1837), (Henry G. Bohn, ed. 1857), Part IV, Section III, Chapter III, Page 468

It is easier to discover a deficiency in individuals, in states, and in providence, than to see their real import or value. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Lectures on the Philosophy of History Quotes)
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It is easier to discover a deficiency in individuals, in states, and in providence, than to see their real import or value.Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1837), (Henry G. Bohn, ed. 1857), Introduction, Page 37

Poverty in itself does not make men into a rabble; a rabble is created only when there is joined to poverty a disposition of mind, an inner indignation against the rich, against society, against the government. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Elements of the Philosophy of Right Quotes)
28

Poverty in itself does not make men into a rabble; a rabble is created only when there is joined to poverty a disposition of mind, an inner indignation against the rich, against society, against the government.Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820), (Oxford University Press, ed. 1942), Additions, No. 149. Paragraph 244, Page 277

Hegel Quotes on Knowledge

In the case of various kinds of knowledge, we find that what in former days occupied the energies of men of mature mental ability sinks to the level of information, exercises, and even pastimes for children; and in this educational progress we can see the history of the world’s culture delineated in faint outline. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (The Phenomenology of Spirit Quotes)
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In the case of various kinds of knowledge, we find that what in former days occupied the energies of men of mature mental ability sinks to the level of information, exercises, and even pastimes for children; and in this educational progress we can see the history of the world’s culture delineated in faint outline.The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), (George Allen & Unwin, ed. 1961), Page 90

We do not need to be shoemakers to know if our shoes fit, and just as little have we any need to be professionals to acquire knowledge of matters of universal interest. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Elements of the Philosophy of Right Quotes)
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We do not need to be shoemakers to know if our shoes fit, and just as little have we any need to be professionals to acquire knowledge of matters of universal interest.Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820), (Oxford University Press, ed. 1942), Additions, No. 135. Paragraph 215, Page 273

Education is the art of making men ethical. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Elements of the Philosophy of Right Quotes)
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Education is the art of making men ethical.Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820), (Oxford University Press, ed. 1942), Additions, No. 97. Paragraph 151, Page 261

The learner always begins by finding fault, but the scholar sees the positive merit in everything. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Elements of the Philosophy of Right Quotes)
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The learner always begins by finding fault, but the scholar sees the positive merit in everything.Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820), (Oxford University Press, ed. 1942), Additions, No. 160. Paragraph 268, Page 282

Who Was Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel?

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (born August 27, 1770, Stuttgart, Württemberg (now Germany) – died November 14, 1831, Berlin) was a German philosopher and one of the founding figures of German idealism.

Based on Immanuel Kant’s transcendental idealism and Rousseau’s politics, Hegel created an elaborate system of philosophy that included history, art, ethics, and religion. Apart from that, he is also known for absolute idealism, master-slave dialectic, and concepts of Aufheben (“sublation”) and Geist (“mind/spirit”).

His most famous works are The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), The Science of Logic, in three volumes (1812, 1813, 1816), Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences (1817) and The Philosophy of Right (1821).

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel is often considered one of the most influential thinkers of the 19th century.