Friedrich Hölderlin Quotes

You seek life, and a godly fire Gushes and gleams for you out of the earth, As, with shuddering long, you Hurl yourself down to the flames of the Etna. <p> So by a queen's wanton whim Pearls were dissolved in wine- heed her not! What folly, poet, to cast your riches Into that bright and bubbling cup! <p> Yet still are you holy to me, as the might of the earth That bore you away, audaciously perishing! And I would follow the hero into the depths Did love not hold me.

But where the danger is, also grows the saving power.

Sólo en el niño reside la libertad.

It is beautiful to unfold our souls
And our short lives

Eagles live in the darkness,
And the sons of the Alps
Cross over the abyss without fear
On lightly-built bridges.
***
Growing weak on the separate mountains — Then give us calm waters;
Give us wings, and loyal minds
To cross over and return.

Las delicias de este mundo ya he gozado,
Los días de mi juventud hace tanto, ¡tanto!, que se desvanecieron,
Abril y Mayo y Julio están lejanos,
¡Ya nada soy, ya nada me complace!

Hälfte des Lebens

Mit gelben Birnen hänget
Und voll mit wilden Rosen
Das Land in den See,
Ihr holden Schwäne,
Und trunken von Küssen
Tunkt ihr das Haupt
Ins heilignüchterne Wasser.

Weh mir, wo nehm’ ich, wenn
Es Winter ist, die Blumen, und wo
Den Sonnenschein,
Und Schatten der Erde?
Die Mauern stehn
Sprachlos und kalt, im Winde
Klirren die Fahnen.

To be one with all – that is the life of the divinity, that is the heaven of man.

Before either of us knew it, we belonged to each other.

Denn sie, die uns das himmlische Feuer leihen, die Götter, schenken heiliges Leid uns auch.

I grew up in the arms of the gods.

Ser uno con todo, ésa es la vida de la divinidad, ése es el cielo del hombre.
Ser uno con todo lo viviente, volver, en un feliz olvido de sí mismo, al todo de la naturaleza, ésta es la cima de los pensamientos y alegrías, ésta es la sagrada cumbre de la montaña, el lugar del reposo eterno donde el mediodía pierde su calor sofocante y el trueno su voz, y el hirviente mar se asemeja a los trigales ondulantes.”

Fragmento de: Friedrich Hölderlin. “Hiperión o el eremita en Grecia”. Apple Books.

In gods and godhead only he can truly believe who himself is godlike.

You have a head and a heart? Reveal only one of them, I say; If you reveal both at once, doubly they'll damn you, for both.

Good Advice You’ve a head and a heart? Reveal only one of them, I say; If you reveal both at once, doubly they’ll damn you, for both.