Welcome to a collection of profound insights and philosophical reflections by Martin Heidegger, one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. Heidegger’s ideas have left an indelible mark on various fields, from existentialism to phenomenology, and continue to challenge and provoke thought across disciplines.
Born in 1889 in Germany, Heidegger’s philosophical inquiries delve deeply into the nature of existence, consciousness, and the meaning of being itself. His groundbreaking work, Being and Time, remains a cornerstone of existential philosophy, exploring the fundamental questions of human existence and our relationship with the world around us.
As you explore this compilation of Martin Heidegger quotes, prepare to embark on a journey of introspection and intellectual discovery. His words invite contemplation and reflection, encouraging readers to ponder the essence of existence and their place within it. Below, you’ll find a selection of his most thought-provoking quotes, ripe for further exploration and interpretation. Enjoy the exploration of Heidegger’s profound insights and philosophical musings.
Only a god can save us. Martin Heidegger
If I take death into my life, acknowledge it, and face it squarely, I will free myself from the anxiety of death and the pettiness of life – and only then will I be free to become myself. Martin Heidegger
Man is not the lord of beings. Man is the shepherd of Being. Martin Heidegger
Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man. Martin Heidegger
To dwell is to garden. Martin Heidegger
Language is the house of the truth of Being. Martin Heidegger
Time is not a thing, thus nothing which is, and yet it remains constant in its passing away without being something temporal like the beings in time. Martin Heidegger
The German language speaks Being, while all the others merely speak of Being. Martin Heidegger
The most thought-provoking thing in our thought-provoking time is that we are still not thinking. Martin Heidegger
Every man is born as many men and dies as a single one. Martin Heidegger
As the ego cogito, subjectivity is the consciousness that represents something, relates this representation back to itself, and so gathers with itself. Martin Heidegger
When modern physics exerts itself to establish the world’s formula, what occurs thereby is this: the being of entities has resolved itself into the method of the totally calculable. Martin Heidegger
The human body is essentially something other than an animal organism. Martin Heidegger
Agriculture is now a motorized food industry, the same thing in its essence as the production of corpses in the gas chambers and the extermination camps, the same thing as blockades and the reduction of countries to famine, the same thing as the manufacture of hydrogen bombs. Martin Heidegger
True time is four-dimensional. Martin Heidegger
Transcendence constitutes selfhood. Martin Heidegger
We still by no means think decisively enough about the essence of action. Martin Heidegger
The Fuhrer alone is the present and future German reality and its law. Learn to know ever more deeply: from now on every single thing demands decision, and every action responsibility. Martin Heidegger
Whatever can be noted historically can be found within history. Martin Heidegger
The possible ranks higher than the actual. Martin Heidegger
But every historical statement and legitimization itself moves within a certain relation to history. Martin Heidegger
We name time when we say: every thing has its time. This means: everything which actually is, every being comes and goes at the right time and remains for a time during the time allotted to it. Every thing has its time. Martin Heidegger
Thinking begins only when we have come to know that reason, glorified for centuries, is the stiff-necked adversary of thought. Martin Heidegger
Being-alone is a deficient mode of being-with; its possibility is a proof for the latter. Martin Heidegger
Making itself intelligible is suicide for philosophy. Martin Heidegger
Being and time determine each other reciprocally, but in such a manner that neither can the former – Being – be addressed as something temporal nor can the latter – time – be addressed as a being. Martin Heidegger
We do not say: Being is, time is, but rather: there is Being and there is time. Martin Heidegger
To think Being itself explicitly requires disregarding Being to the extent that it is only grounded and interpreted in terms of beings and for beings as their ground, as in all metaphysics. Martin Heidegger
Time-space as commonly understood, in the sense of the distance measured between two time-points, is the result of time calculation. Martin Heidegger
The human being is not the lord of beings, but the shepherd of Being. Martin Heidegger
Why are there beings at all, instead of Nothing? Martin Heidegger