1001Philosophers

Friedrich Schelling Quotes

Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling was a 19th-century German philosopher and a leading figure of German Idealism alongside Fichte and Hegel. His early Naturphilosophie sought to integrate the natural sciences into a comprehensive idealist system in which nature and spirit are two aspects of one absolute reality. The quotes below are attributed to Friedrich Schelling, organized by topic.

Friedrich Schelling on Freedom

  • Attributed to Friedrich Schelling:

    “Freedom is not a property attached to the will; rather, it is the very being of will itself.”

Friedrich Schelling on Knowledge

  • Attributed to Friedrich Schelling:

    “The first step into philosophy is to know oneself.”

Friedrich Schelling on Nature

  • Attributed to Friedrich Schelling:

    “Nature is visible spirit, spirit is invisible nature.”

  • Attributed to Friedrich Schelling:

    “Architecture is frozen music.”

  • Attributed to Friedrich Schelling:

    “Without the contradiction of opposites, there would be no life, no movement, no progress.”

Friedrich Schelling on Time

  • Attributed to Friedrich Schelling:

    “History as a whole is a progressive, gradually self-disclosing revelation of the Absolute.”

  • Attributed to Friedrich Schelling:

    “Time is born in each individual, not the individual in time.”