You should never be afraid of people... such fear can destroy us completely. You've simply got to get rid of it, if you want to turn into someone decent. You understand that, don't you?
Interpretation
Fear of others can hold us back, preventing us from becoming our best selves.
In this quote, Hermann Hesse emphasizes the importance of overcoming the fear of judgment or rejection from others. He suggests that such fear can be crippling, hindering personal growth and development into a 'decent' person. By encouraging a release from these fears, Hesse advocates for a more authentic existence where individuals can thrive without the burdens of societal pressure and the opinions of others.
In practice
During a motivational speech focused on personal growth, you could use this quote to encourage the audience to confront their fears.
I shall no longer be instructed by the Yoga Veda or the Aharva Veda, or the ascetics, or any other doctrine whatsoever. I shall learn from myself, be a pupil of myself; I shall get to know myself, the mystery of Siddhartha." He looked around as if he were seeing the world for the first time.
That is where my dearest and brightest dreams have ranged — to hear for the duration of a heartbeat the universe and the totality of life in its mysterious, innate harmony.
I, also, would like to look and smile, sit and walk like that, so free, so worthy, so restrained, so candid, so childlike and mysterious. A man only looks and walks like that when he has conquered his Self. I also will conquer my Self.
You're quite right there," he said. "I have practiced abstinence myself for years, and had my time of fasting, too, but now I find myself once more beneath the sign of Aquarius, a dark and humid constellation.
I call that man awake who, with conscious knowledge and understanding, can perceive the deep unreasoning powers in his soul, his whole innermost strength, desire and weakness, and knows how to reckon with himself.
Despair is the result of each earnest attempt to go through life with virtue, justice and understanding, and to fulfill their requirements. Children live on one side of despair, the awakened on the other side.
We might not be back. I might be in jail. I might be anywhere. But when I leave, you'll remember I said, with the last words on my lips, that I am a revolutionary. And you're going to have to keep on saying that. You're going to have to say that I am a proletariat; I am the people.
The question is no longer between violence and non-violence it is between non-violence and non-existence.
No healthy Christian ever chooses suffering; he chooses God's will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not.
All my life I believed I became an athlete through my own determination, but it's impossible to think that being descended from slaves hasn't left an imprint through the generations. Difficult as it was to hear, slavery has benefited descendants like me - I believe there is a superior athletic gene in us.
I feel like young girls are told, I don’t know, that they have to be this kind of princess and fragile. It’s bullshit. I identify much more with being a warrior, a fighter. If I was going to be a princess I’d be a warrior princess definitely.
I believe that there will be ultimately be a clash between the oppressed and those who do the oppressing. I believe that there will be a clash between those who want freedom, justice and equality for everyone and those who want to continue the system of exploitation. I believe that there will be that kind of clash, but I don't think it will be based on the color of the skin.
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