I am in truth the Steppenwolf that I often call myself; that beast astray that finds neither home nor joy nor nourishment in a world that is strange and incomprehensible to him.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a deep sense of alienation and the search for identity in an incomprehensible world.
Hermann Hesse, in this quote, portrays the internal struggle of an individual who feels disconnected from the world around them. The metaphor of the 'Steppenwolf' symbolizes a duality of being both human and beast, reflecting the complexities of self-identity, the search for belonging, and the existential challenges faced in an unfamiliar and overwhelming environment. It encapsulates the feeling of not finding fulfillment or peace in life, emphasizing the challenges of understanding oneself amid a chaotic world.
In practice
In a speech about finding one's path, this quote can illustrate the struggle many face in their journey.
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.
You should aim to be independent of any one vote, of any one fashion, of any one century.
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
If civilization has an opposite, it is war.
I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth. If two or three persons should come with a high spiritual aim and with great powers, the world would fall into their hands like a ripe peach.
Even a dog distinguishes between being stumbled over and being kicked.
It is a maxim among these lawyers, that whatever hath been done before, may legally be done again: and therefore they take special care to record all the decisions formerly made against common justice and the general reason of mankind.
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