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Full Idea
Life must not be a novel that is given to us, but one that is made by us.
Gist of Idea
Life isn't given to us like a novel - we write the novel
Source
Novalis (Logological Fragments I [1798], 99)
Book Ref
Novalis: 'Philosophical Writings', ed/tr. Stoljar,M.M. [SUNY 1997], p.66
A Reaction
The roots of existentialism are in the Romantic movement. Sartre seems to have taken this idea literally.
| 22025 | Novalis thought self-consciousness cannot disclose 'being', because we are temporal creatures [Novalis, by Pinkard] |
| 19579 | The history of philosophy is just experiments in how to do philosophy [Novalis] |
| 19580 | If the pupil really yearns for the truth, they only need a hint [Novalis] |
| 19581 | A problem is a solid mass, which the mind must break up [Novalis] |
| 19582 | Morality and philosophy are mutually dependent [Novalis] |
| 19583 | Philosophy only begins when it studies itself [Novalis] |
| 19584 | Whoever first counted to two must have seen the possibility of infinite counting [Novalis] |
| 19585 | Every person has his own language [Novalis] |
| 22027 | Life isn't given to us like a novel - we write the novel [Novalis] |
| 22067 | Poetry is true idealism, and the self-consciousness of the universe [Novalis] |