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Quote by Wilhelm von Humboldt

“It is an absolutely vain endeavor to attempt to reconstruct or even comprehend the nature of a human being by simply knowing the forces which have acted upon him. However deeply we should like to penetrate, however close we seem to be drawing to truth, one unknown quantity eludes us: man's primordial energy, his original self, that personality which was given him with the gift of life itself. On it rests man's true freedom; it alone determines his real character.”

Quote by Wilhelm von Humboldt

Author

Wilhelm von Humboldt
Wilhelm von Humboldt

German philosopher, educator, and linguist, known as the 'Father of Educational Reform'. Wilhelm von Humboldt was born on June 22, 1767, and died on April 8, 1835. He had profound insights into education, language, and culture, which had a lasting impact on the world. more

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“Trees have about them something beautiful and attractive even to the fancy, since they cannot change their places, are witnesses of all the changes that take place around them; and as some reach a great age, they become, as it were, historical monuments, and like ourselves they have a life, growing and passing away, --not being inanimate and unvarying like the fields and rivers. One sees them passing through various stages, and at last step by step approaching death, which makes them look still more like ourselves.”