Amiel (German Edition)
Well, I had to stop after almost every journal entry and allow myself some reflection time. He taught philosophy and aesthetics in the mids. His journal covers literature hates Victor Hugo , music, religion, ethics, weather, educational practices,child rearing, friendship, death, Facebook stalking and so much more. Despite the age of the book, it remains relevant.
I will probably re-read it, or at least the Reading this book took months, yet it only has pages! I will probably re-read it, or at least the hundreds of quotes in my Kindle clippings folder. January 23, [He is slowly dying from bronchitis and asthma. But there is nothing to prevent us from opening our solitude to God.
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And so what was an austere monologue becomes dialogue, reluctance becomes docility, renunciation passes into peace, and the sense of painful defeat is lost in a sense of recovered liberty. Jul 14, Larry Hansen rated it it was amazing Shelves: This is a very enjoyable read if you are one who likes to examine life.
Also, a slow read. The journal was filled with insightful aphorisms about truth, society, and life in general. Amiel was torn between living an introverted, mystical-philosophical life and a outward, productive one. He chose the former but seemed guilt-ridden for not pursuing the latter. His thought was religious and, fortunately, in a very open-minded way as he talked about following God's will in a Christian way but still d This is a very enjoyable read if you are one who likes to examine life.
His thought was religious and, fortunately, in a very open-minded way as he talked about following God's will in a Christian way but still discussed the Eastern perspective as if it had valid meaning to him. My edition was translated by Mary A. Ward with no publication date. The journal runs from to , a few months before Henri's death.
Ward did not include the mundane entries but intentionally used only his philosophic musings which I thought was a good move.
Henri-Frédéric Amiel
It was apparently translated back in the time when anyone smart enough to read seriously was expected to speak culturally elite French. There were numerous untranslated passages in French and several in German, Spanish and Latin. I would recommend an edition that at least footnotes the translations. Deeply religious, but ultimately skeptical; aristocratic in spirit, but grudgingly realistic to know that democracy is the only way forward for a society; admiring of science, but simultaneously recognizing the dangers of positivism; and a lifelong conservative Protestant who as he got older began to embrace socialist and Buddhist thinking, and someone who, in his own way, seemed to be lighting the path for the future of French thought, a first sort of ur-existentialist emerging from the cave.
And over the course of this journal, we see the arc of a man whose life is lonely, damaged, deeply romantic but necessarily pragmatic, over the course of a remarkable century. I've never read anything like it.
In this second edition of the English translation of Amiel's “Journal Intime,” I .. However this may be, it is certain that German thought took possession of him. Editorial Reviews. About the Author. Born in Geneva in , he was descended from a Amiel's Journal - Kindle edition by Henri Frédéric Amiel, Humphry Ward. at an early age, Amiel travelled widely, became intimate with the intellectual leaders of Europe, and made a special study of German philosophy in Berlin.
Mar 29, Sluggo rated it it was amazing. This man had so many interesting things to say about such a WIDE variety of subjects, he was truly amazing.
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Unfortunately this was the "woe is me" bane of his life- he despaired that he was never able to let himself focus on ONE thing, and so never gained the fame and wealth he could have had. Thank God he didn't. This book was an international best-seller at the time it was published, after his death. Now, of course, you can't find it in a library. May 22, Carol rated it it was amazing. Sep 29, Lisa rated it it was ok Shelves: Too dark and depressing for me especially struggling with my own issues at the time.
His critiques of other works is also not useful to me since I have no idea who most of those people or works were. Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. Well written and still timely. Amiel offers many insights I have found quite valuable: You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you. Still he offers a number of useful observations: To reform one maxims is nothing; it is but to change the title on the book.
To learn new habits is everything; for it is to reach the substance of life. Life is but a tissue of habits. One of the most artistically written books I have ever read.
Well, I had to stop after almost every journal entry and allow myself some reflection time. And Henri and I do not always see eye to eye about everything, but he is a thoughtful and gentle philosopher so his antiquated ideas about women and democracy, I shrugged them off. Amiel's key philosophical theories Generally accepted to belong to the group of philosophers known as moral philosophers, Amiel's theories were esoteric in nature. This isolation inspired the one book by which Amiel is still known, the Journal Intime "Private Journal" , which, published after his death, obtained a European reputation. Retrieved from " https: You may find it for free on the web. Ward with no publication date.
One person found this helpful. This book is for the discriminating reader that appreciates virtue. I could never do it justice in these brief words. I love this work and I am very grateful that it came to be. It almost didn't since it was published after Amiel's death, by his friends to whom Amiel left his work.
A very personal and beautiful journal, full of wonderful insights into Life, the nature of things, the human condition, etc. What an honest man. Not only gives great insight into the mind of one man, but it gives even more insight into humanity as a whole. So thoughtful, beautiful and spiritual!
My first copy of Amiel's Journal was purchased almost thirty-years ago and belonged to the American author Wright Morris. It proved to be an invaluable "companion" and a book that I've returned to time and again.
Essentially, from these earliest days, moral philosophy has been about how we should conduct our lives as individuals: Sometimes, moral philosophy focuses on abstract principles for instance, 'lying is always wrong'. At other times, moral philosophers consider how circumstances affect moral decision making - for example, would lying still be wrong in a tricky case where a thief is asking us where our treasured belongings are so that they can steal them?
Another branch of moral philosophy is 'meta ethics', which is devoted to determining how we can tell that a given moral rule that we have proposed is true or valid. Amiel was born in Geneva in and he died in Geneva in , having spend much of his life travelling around Europe - particularly Germany he was heavily influenced by philosophers living in Berlin at the time.
Amiel wrote poetry as well as philosophy, but it was only after his death that his fame really took off. Ward helped to bring Amiel's thought to new, sympathetic audiences.