The great philosophers and the great works are standards for the selection of what is essential. Everything that we do in studying the history of philosophy ultimately serves their better understanding.
Karl JaspersRead
Only then, approaching my fortieth birthday, I made philosophy my life's work.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Philosophy can become a central focus of one's life, particularly as one grows older and seeks deeper understanding.
In this quote, Karl Jaspers reflects on the significance of philosophy in his life as he approached a milestone age. He emphasizes the idea that dedicating oneself to philosophical inquiry can provide a sense of purpose and direction, particularly in mid-life when individuals often reassess their goals and beliefs.
Themes
PhilosophyLifeUnderstandingPurposeReflection
In practice
Example use cases
During a graduation speech about finding one's passion.
More from Karl Jaspers
All quotes βThe community of masses of human beings has produced an order of life in regulated channels which connects individuals in a technically functioning organisation, but not inwardly from the historicity of their souls.
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We must learn to talk with each other, and we mutually must understand and accept one another in our extraordinary differences.
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The study of law left me unsatisfied, because I did not know the aspects of life which it serves. I perceived only the intricate mental juggling with fictions that did not interest me.
Karl JaspersRead
If philosophy is practice, a demand to know the manner in which its history is to be studied is entailed: a theoretical attitude toward it becomes real only in the living appropriation of its contents from the texts.
Karl JaspersRead
Reason is like an open secret that can become known to anyone at any time; it is the quiet space into which everyone can enter through his own thought
Karl JaspersRead
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