From the perspective of mere representation, the external world always remains only a phenomenon.
Wilhelm DiltheyRead
The individual always realizes only one of the possibilities in his development, which could always have taken a different turning whenever he had to make an important decision.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Each choice we make leads us down a specific path, leaving other possibilities unexplored.
This quote by Wilhelm Dilthey emphasizes the nature of human development and decision-making. It suggests that every individual has multiple potential paths or possibilities in their life, but only one of those paths is realized based on the choices they make during critical moments. Each decision has the power to define our trajectory, highlighting the significance of the choices we encounter and the weight of their outcomes.
Themes
ChoicesDecisionsPossibilitiesDevelopmentPotential
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about personal growth, one might use this quote to inspire others to consider the impact of their choices.
More from Wilhelm Dilthey
All quotes →Any theory intended to describe and analyze socio-historical reality cannot restrict itself to the human spirit and disregard the totality of human nature.
Wilhelm DiltheyRead
The sciences which take socio-historical reality as their subject matter are seeking, more intensively than ever before, their systematic relations to one another and to their foundation.
Wilhelm DiltheyRead
The knife of historical relativism... which has cut to pieces all metaphysics and religion must also bring about healing.
Wilhelm DiltheyRead
All science is experiential; but all experience must be related back to and derives its its validity from the conditions and context of consciousness in which it arises, i.e., the totality of our nature.
Wilhelm DiltheyRead
If there were a science of human beings it would be anthropology that aims at understanding the totality of experience through structural context.
Wilhelm DiltheyRead
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