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About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker questions how human wisdom in books measures up against divine wisdom.
In plain terms
A book's wisdom is less than an angel's wisdom.
What can you take from it?
Seek higher wisdom than what is written.

Where it applies

  • philosophy
  • study
  • spiritual

Putting it to work

  • read critically
  • seek divine insight

Questions to consider

  • What is divine wisdom?
  • Can books teach truth?

Another view

It assumes angels possess superior wisdom without proof.

More from Friedrich Holderlin

  1. What is all that men have done and thought over thousands of years, compared with one moment of love.

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  2. I call on Fate to give me back my soul.

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  3. Now we were standing close to the summit's rim, gazing out into the endless East.

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