Wilhelm Von Humboldt citáty
Wilhelm Von Humboldt
Datum narození: 22. červen 1767
Datum úmrtí: 8. duben 1835
Další jména: Вильгельм фон Гумбольдт
Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt byl německý diplomat, filozof, zakladatel Humboldtovy univerzity v Berlíně, přítel Goetha a Schillera a v neposlední řadě významný německý jazykovědec, který evropským zájemcům přiblížil baskičtinu. Mezi jeho nejvýznamnější příspěvky jazykovědě a společenským vědám patří historicky první formulace myšlenek, jež později vešly ve známost jako teorie jazykového relativismu. Jejich základem je stanovisko, že lidé hovořící různými jazyky odlišně chápou svět kolem sebe. Původ jazyka objasňoval metafyzickými úvahami, jazyk je vrozená lidská vlastnost, vytváří duch národa a zrcadlí jeho mentalitu. Jazyk není produktem, ale aktivní silou. Pokoušel se vytvořit srovnávací antropologii jazyků, i proto se jako první z lingvistů zajímal i o živé jazyky. Snažil se klasifikovat jazyky podle jejich struktury, čímž se stal předchůdcem typologie.
Citáty Wilhelm Von Humboldt
„Je to zvláštní věc v živobytí, když ani na štěstí ani na neštěstí nemyslíme, než jenom na přísné, sebe nešetřící konání povinností, že štěstí i při namáhavém a rozkoší se odříkajícím způsobě života samo sebou se dostaví.“
Zdroj: [Novák, Jan Václav, Vorovka, Karel, Kniha moudrosti, sborník aforismů a sentencí peadagogických, Bursík a Kohout, 1892, 17, česky]
„Co jest stát než souhrn lidských činných a trpných sil?“
Zdroj: [Koráb, Julius, Zlatá zrnka, [1885], Plzeň, V. Steinhauser, 239]
„Man cannot approach this purely objective realm other than through his cognitive and sensory powers, that is, in a subjective manner.“
As quoted in The Linguistic Relativity Principle and Humboldtian Ethnolinguistics : A History And Appraisal (1963) by Robert Lee Miller, and The Linguistic Turn in Hermeneutic Philosophy (2002) by Cristina Lafont
Kontext: The interdependence of word and idea shows clearly that languages are not actually means of representing a truth already known, but rather of discovering the previously unknown. Their diversity is not one of sounds and signs, but a diversity of world perspectives [Weltansichten]. … The sum of the knowable, as the field to be tilled by the human mind, lies among all languages, independent of them, in the middle. Man cannot approach this purely objective realm other than through his cognitive and sensory powers, that is, in a subjective manner.
„There are undeniably certain kinds of knowledge that must be of a general nature and, more importantly, a certain cultivation of the mind and character that nobody can afford to be without.“
As quoted in Wilhelm von Humboldt (1970), by P. Berglar, p. 87, and "Profiles of Educators: Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835)" by Karl-Heinz Günther, in Prospects, Vol. 18, Issue 1 (March 1988)
Kontext: There are undeniably certain kinds of knowledge that must be of a general nature and, more importantly, a certain cultivation of the mind and character that nobody can afford to be without. People obviously cannot be good craftworkers, merchants, soldiers or businessmen unless, regardless of their occupation, they are good, upstanding and – according to their condition – well-informed human beings and citizens. If this basis is laid through schooling, vocational skills are easily acquired later on, and a person is always free to move from one occupation to another, as so often happens in life.
„To inquire and to create;—these are the grand centres around which all human pursuits revolve,“
Zdroj: The Limits of State Action (1792), Ch. 8
Kontext: To inquire and to create;—these are the grand centres around which all human pursuits revolve, or at least to these objects do they all more or less directly refer.
„If we would indicate an idea which, throughout the whole course of history, has ever more and more widely extended its empire, or which, more than any other, testifies to the much-contested and still more decidedly misunderstood perfectibility of the whole human race, it is that of establishing our common humanity — of striving to remove the barriers which prejudice and limited views of every kind have erected among men, and to treat all mankind, without reference to religion, nation, or color, as one fraternity, one great community, fitted for the attainment of one object, the unrestrained development of the physical powers.“
Kosmos (1847)
Kontext: If we would indicate an idea which, throughout the whole course of history, has ever more and more widely extended its empire, or which, more than any other, testifies to the much-contested and still more decidedly misunderstood perfectibility of the whole human race, it is that of establishing our common humanity — of striving to remove the barriers which prejudice and limited views of every kind have erected among men, and to treat all mankind, without reference to religion, nation, or color, as one fraternity, one great community, fitted for the attainment of one object, the unrestrained development of the physical powers. This is the ultimate and highest aim of society, identical with the direction implanted by nature in the mind of man toward the indefinite extension of his existence. He regards the earth in all its limits, and the heavens as far as his eye can scan their bright and starry depths, as inwardly his own, given to him as the objects of his contemplation, and as a field for the development of his energies. Even the child longs to pass the hills or the seas which inclose his narrow home; yet, when his eager steps have borne him beyond those limits, he pines, like the plant, for his native soil; and it is by this touching and beautiful attribute of man — this longing for that which is unknown, and this fond remembrance of that which is lost — that he is spared from an exclusive attachment to the present. Thus deeply rooted in the innermost nature of man, and even enjoined upon him by his highest tendencies, the recognition of the bond of humanity becomes one of the noblest leading principles in the history of mankind.
„It is only through extremes that men can arrive at the middle path of wisdom and virtue.“
Zdroj: The Limits of State Action (1792), Ch. 8
Kontext: Setting aside the fact that coercion and guidance can never succeed in producing virtue, they manifestly tend to weaken power; and what are tranquil order and outward morality without true moral strength and virtue? Moreover, however great an evil immorality may be, we must not forget that it is not without its beneficial consequences. It is only through extremes that men can arrive at the middle path of wisdom and virtue.
„The incapacity for freedom can only arise from a want of moral and intellectual power; to elevate this power is the only way to counteract this want; but to do this presupposes the exercise of that power, and this exercise presupposes the freedom which awakens spontaneous activity.“
Zdroj: The Limits of State Action (1792), Ch. 16
Kontext: The incapacity for freedom can only arise from a want of moral and intellectual power; to elevate this power is the only way to counteract this want; but to do this presupposes the exercise of that power, and this exercise presupposes the freedom which awakens spontaneous activity. Only it is clear we cannot call it giving freedom, when fetters are unloosed which are not felt as such by him who wears them. But of no man on earth—however neglected by nature, and however degraded by circumstances—is this true of all the bonds which oppress and enthral him. Let us undo them one by one, as the feeling of freedom awakens in men’s hearts, and we shall hasten progress at every step. There may still be great difficulties in being able to recognize the symptoms of this awakening. But these do not lie in the theory so much as in its execution, which, it is evident, never admits of special rules, but in this case, as in every other, is the work of genius alone.
„The interdependence of word and idea shows clearly that languages are not actually means of representing a truth already known, but rather of discovering the previously unknown. Their diversity is not one of sounds and signs, but a diversity of world perspectives [Weltansichten].“
As quoted in The Linguistic Relativity Principle and Humboldtian Ethnolinguistics : A History And Appraisal (1963) by Robert Lee Miller, and The Linguistic Turn in Hermeneutic Philosophy (2002) by Cristina Lafont
Kontext: The interdependence of word and idea shows clearly that languages are not actually means of representing a truth already known, but rather of discovering the previously unknown. Their diversity is not one of sounds and signs, but a diversity of world perspectives [Weltansichten]. … The sum of the knowable, as the field to be tilled by the human mind, lies among all languages, independent of them, in the middle. Man cannot approach this purely objective realm other than through his cognitive and sensory powers, that is, in a subjective manner.
