Der Mensch kann tun was er will; er kann aber nicht wollen was er will.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Human beings can act as they wish, but they cannot choose what they will want.
- In plain terms
- We can do what we want, but we can’t choose what we want.
- What can you take from it?
- Recognize limits of volitional control over desires.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How does this view affect personal responsibility?
- Can we influence what we want over time?
Another view
It may be interpreted as fatalistic, discouraging personal effort.
More from Arthur Schopenhauer
It is the courage to make a clean breast of it in the face of every question that makes the philosopher. He must be like Sophocles' Oedipus, who, seeking enlig…
Permalink to quote #1 Obit anus, abit onus.
Permalink to quote #3 We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people.
Permalink to quote #4
Related quotes
The good or ill of man lies within his own will.
EpictetusEpictetus quote #6 'What does everybody want?'
Allen SarvenAllen Sarven quote #6 Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.
Erich FrommErich Fromm quote #12