Karl Jaspers Quotes
Karl Jaspers was a 20th-century German philosopher and psychiatrist, one of the founders of existentialism and a major figure of mid-20th century European thought. His early work General Psychopathology established his reputation in psychiatry and developed a phenomenological method for understanding subjective experience that he later extended into philosophy. The quotes below are attributed to Karl Jaspers, organized by topic.
Browse Karl Jaspers by topic
Karl Jaspers on Death
-
“Der Lehrer der Liebe lehrt den Kampf, der Lehrer der lieblosen Isolierung von aller Welt aber die Ruhe.”
Psychology of World Views(1919) | The teacher of love teaches struggle. The teacher of lifeless isolation from the world teaches peace .
Karl Jaspers on God
-
“"There is no God," cry the masses more and more vociferously; and with the loss of God man loses his sense of values — is, as it were, massacred because he feels himself of no account.”
Man in the Modern Age(1933)
Karl Jaspers on Knowledge
-
Attributed to Karl Jaspers:
“Philosophy is a way of life, not a set of doctrines to be memorised.”
-
“The Great Philosophers (1962)”
I approach the presentation of Kierkegaard with some trepidation. Next to Nietzsche , or rather, prior to Nietzsche, I consider him to be the most important thinker of our post- Kantian age. With Goethe and Hegel , an epoch had reached its conclusion, and our prevalent way of thinking — that is, the positivistic , natural-scientific one — cannot really be considered as philosophy . -
“The Greek word for philosopher ( philosophos ) connotes a distinction from sophos . It signifies the lover of wisdom (knowledge) as distinguished from him who considers himself wise in the possession of knowledge . This meaning of the word still endures: the essence of philosophy is not the possession of the truth but the search for truth. … Philosophy means to be on the way. Its questions are more essential than its answers , and every answer becomes a new question.”
Way to Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy (1951) as translated by Ralph Mannheim , Ch. 1, What is Philosophy?, p. 12 | Variant translation: It is the search for the truth , not possession of the truth which is the way of philosophy. Its questions are more relevant than its answers, and every answer becomes a new question. -
“The Greek word for philosopher ( philosophos ) connotes a distinction from sophos . It signifies the lover of wisdom (knowledge) as distinguished from him who considers himself wise in the possession of knowledge . This meaning of the word still endures: the essence of philosophy is not the possession of the truth but the search for truth. … Philosophy means to be on the way. Its questions are mor”
Way to Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy (1951) as translated by Ralph Mannheim , Ch. 1, What is Philosophy?, p. 12
Karl Jaspers on Life
-
Attributed to Karl Jaspers:
“Existence is not yet existence as it ought to be.”
-
Attributed to Karl Jaspers:
“Limit-situations are situations of extreme experience: death, suffering, struggle, guilt.”
-
“We cannot avoid conflict, conflict with society , other individuals and with oneself. Conflicts may be the sources of defeat, lost life and a limitation of our potentiality but they may also lead to greater depth of living and the birth of more far-reaching unities , which flourish in the tensions that engender them.”
As quoted in Turning Conflict Into Profit : A Roadmap for Resolving Personal and Organizational Disputes (2005) by Larry Axelrod and Rowland Johnson
Karl Jaspers on Love
-
“Even the most elevated psychological understanding is not a loving understanding.”
Psychology of World Views(1919) -
“The teacher of love teaches struggle. The teacher of lifeless isolation from the world teaches peace .”
Psychology of World Views(1919)
Karl Jaspers on Mind
-
“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 .”
As quoted in Philosophy for a Time of Crisis : An Interpretation, with Key Writings by Fifteen Great Modern Thinkers (1959) by Adrienne Koch, Ch. 18, "Karl Jaspers : A New Humanism -
“I approach the presentation of Kierkegaard with some trepidation. Next to Nietzsche , or rather, prior to Nietzsche, I consider him to be the most important thinker of our post- Kantian age. With Goethe and Hegel , an epoch had reached its conclusion, and our prevalent way of thinking — that is, the positivistic , natural-scientific one — cannot really be considered as philosophy .”
The Great Philosophers (1962)
Karl Jaspers on Time
-
“Man, if he is to remain man, must advance by way of consciousness. There is no road leading backward. ... We can no longer veil reality from ourselves by renouncing self-consciousness without simultaneously excluding ourselves from the historical course of human existence.”
Man in the Modern Age(1933)
Karl Jaspers on Truth
-
Attributed to Karl Jaspers:
“Truth begins with two.”
-
Attributed to Karl Jaspers:
“Communication is the unique value of philosophical life.”
-
Attributed to Karl Jaspers:
“Whoever offers himself as an arbiter of aesthetic matters takes a great risk.”
-
“On Truth (1948), Pt 2, Ch. 3, II, B, 3, b)”
The interlacedness of the two heterogeneous origins [Remark: This refers to the origins of governance: (1) necessity to work cooperatively, (2) the fight between man and man] prevails as the fundamental characteristic of governance. Therefore even any true community, being successful somewhere between boundaries for a common purpose, elsewhere becomes in theory a means for misleading, used to inte -
“Variant translation: It is the search for the truth , not possession of the truth which is the way of philosophy. Its questions are more relevant than its answers, and every answer becomes a new question.”
The Greek word for philosopher ( philosophos ) connotes a distinction from sophos . It signifies the lover of wisdom (knowledge) as distinguished from him who considers himself wise in the possession of knowledge . This meaning of the word still endures: the essence of philosophy is not the possession of the truth but the search for truth. … Philosophy means to be on the way. Its questions are mor -
“When language is used without true significance, it loses its purpose as a means of communication and becomes an end in itself.”
Man in the Modern Age(1933) -
“In old days the plastic arts, music, and poesy were so germane to man in his totality that his Transcendence plainly manifest in them. ... What is to-day obvious to all is a decay in the essence of art. ... the opposition to man's true nature as man.”
Man in the Modern Age(1933)