I’ve recently read Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, and here’s how I’d describe this book in one sentence:
A journey of self-exploration and trial and error led one man to attain wisdom.
Here are the takeaways:
1. ”I want to learn from myself, want to be my student, want to get to know myself, the secret of Siddhartha.”
We can read as much as we like, and I regard reading as extremely important for increasing one’s erudition, but we only learn so much by reading.
The whole point of reading is to do; by doing, we really learn.
In doing is where true wisdom lies.
True wisdom is knowing thyself.
Which only arises from ones actions, from doing and from experience.
2. ”Everyone can perform magic, everyone can reach his goals, if he is able to think, if he is able to wait, if he is able to fast.”
I believe the only way to orient ourselves towards a worthwhile and meaningful life is to practice virtues.
Virtues help us embody good moral behaviour.
I believe that to be a good person is to be a virtuous person.
What I like about this quote is that it helps us to embody virtues through three different actions:
Thinking, waiting, fasting.
Thinking enables us to embody virtues such as wisdom, rationality, and logic ( critical thinking, good judgment, etc.).
Waiting enables us to embody virtues such as patience and humility.
Fasting enables us to embody virtues such as moderation, temperance, and self-control and helps us combat vices such as greed and gluttony.
I try to practice these actions when possible, embodying the essential virtues that are the hallmarks of good character.
3. “Wisdom which a wise man tries to pass on to someone always sounds like foolishness.”
I’ve experienced many times in my life what seems like trite advice.
But it’s only when I’ve experienced the downside of not following that advice that I think to myself, “Oh, that’s why so many people were peddling that advice.”
Learned wisdom is, in fact, all wisdom.
Knowledge can be obtained through many different mediums, such as books, podcasts, articles, etc.
But it’s not until you fight in the arena yourself ( figuratively speaking ) and go through the trials and tribulations yourself that you really learn true wisdom.
I’ll give you an example of how I’ve experienced this.
Have you ever heard this saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”?
Well, I had many times, but it wasn’t until I pushed too hard in the gym and messed up my wrist for a year that I realised the true essence of this advice.
4. “Knowledge can be conveyed, but not wisdom. It can be found, it can be lived, it is possible to be carried by it, miracles can be performed with it, but it cannot be expressed in words and taught.”
The only way to gain wisdom is through actions.
Stephen Covey once said, “Remember, to learn and not to do is really not to learn. To know and not to do is really not to know.”
5. ”Even with him, even with your great teacher, I prefer the thing over the words, place more importance on his acts and life than on his speeches, more on the gestures of his hand than his opinions. Not in his speech, not in his thoughts, I see his greatness, only in his actions, in his life.”
When assessing someone’s true character, pay much more attention to their actions than their words.
The former will tell you the truth.
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