Johann Georg Hamann Quotes

Virtue is reason which has become energy.

It is in the disposition and view of the mind, and not in the good which may accidentally and unintentionally result, that virtue consists

The shortest way to arrive at glory should be to do that for conscience which we do for glory. And the virtue of Alexander appears to me with much less vigor in his theater than that of Socrates in his mean and obscure. I can easily conceive Socrates in the place of Alexander, but Alexander in that of Socrates I cannot.

Virtue is the desire of things honourable and the power of attaining them.

And truly it is a very natural and ordinary thing to desire to acquire, and always, when men do it who can, they will be praised or not blamed; but when they cannot, and wish to do it anyway, here lies the error and the blame.

I have tried if I could reach that great resolution . . . to be honest without a thought of Heaven or Hell.

I know truth is more like a mountain that has to be scaled. The peak of the mountain pierces the clouds and can only rarely be seen, and has never been reached. And what you see of it, moreover, depends upon the flank of the mountain you stand upon, and how exhausted getting even so far has made you. Virtue lies in looking upwards, toiling upwards, and sometimes joyously leaping from one precarious crag of fact and feeling to the next.

I am actuated by an ambition which I believe to be an honourable one — the ambition of serving the great cause of truth, while endeavouring to forward the literature of the country.

Beholding the bright countenance of truth in the quiet and still air of delightful studies.

...I have come to make distinctions between what I call the academy and literature, the moral equivalents of church and God. The academy may lie, but literature tries to tell the truth.

The wise want love; and those who love want wisdom.

Where there is no temptation, there is no virtue.

The desire to know is natural to good men.

Cowardice is the greatest sin.

You can resolve to live your life with integrity. Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me.

A good man will certainly also possess courage; but a brave man is not necessarily good.

There is but one thing of real value - to cultivate truth and justice, and to live without anger in the midst of lying and unjust men.

The light around someone who speaks truth, who consistently acts with compassion for all, even in great difficulty, is visible to all around them.

Integrity, honesty, and honor may not give immediate rewards or gratification, and they can be life-threatening (for example, being a whistle-blower or turning state's evidence). The absence of integrity, honesty, and honor do not always bring punishment or scorn, and can be life-aggrandizing (connivers and cheats often gain power and wealth). Therefore, morality must be its own reward.

Be grateful that your righteous life molds you so that you don’t fit where you don’t belong

I seek no values by means of evil, nor do I surrender my values to evil.

Some mathematician, I believe, has said that true pleasure lies not in the discovery of truth, but in the search for it.

The tempt for greatness is the biggest drug in the world.

Happiness does not reside in strength or money; it lies in rightness and many-sidedness.

Unless we consent to lack the common things which men call success, we shall hardly become heroes or saints, philosophers or poets.