Novalis Quotes
Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg, who published under the pen name Novalis, was a German poet, mystic, and philosopher of early Romanticism. Trained in law and mining engineering, he combined a professional life as a salt-mine inspector with an intense philosophical and literary engagement with Fichte, Spinoza, and the Bible. The quotes below are attributed to Novalis, organized by topic.
Novalis on Mind
-
Attributed to Novalis:
“Philosophy is properly homesickness, the wish to be everywhere at home.”
-
Attributed to Novalis:
“Genius is the talent to take the contingent for the necessary.”
-
Attributed to Novalis:
“Inward goes the mysterious path; eternity, with its worlds, lies within us.”
Novalis on Nature
-
Attributed to Novalis:
“The world must be romanticized.”
Novalis on Truth
-
Attributed to Novalis:
“We seek the absolute everywhere and only ever find things.”