"Dmitry: Notes on a Wandering Youth" Reading Notes

Author: Hermann Hesse

A book worth reading, everyone has experienced the confusion of youth, and an important guide is also important.

Before the text#

Life is a process of self-searching, trying and gaining insights on the big and small journeys, and no one can achieve a perfect ending.

Two Worlds#

Cracks can be healed, forgotten, but they always remain hidden in a corner of the heart, continuing to bleed.
Not having to go to school in the morning is the happiest thing, like living in a fairy tale. The sunlight shining into the bedroom and the light coming through the green curtains in the school classroom are different.

Cain#

People like to interpret things casually, as long as it makes them comfortable or can justify themselves.
People with courage and individuality always make others afraid.
Misfortune hangs over my head, and all efforts are in vain.
We are not born to be afraid of others. If you are afraid of someone, it is because you have given them great power. You did something wrong, and it just let them know, so they can control you. It's simple, isn't it?
Gratitude is not a virtue that I believe in, and I especially feel that it should not be demanded of a child.
Today, I finally understand that the most difficult thing in the world is the path to self-realization.

The Robber#

Enlightenment in life often comes from "another world," carrying fear, constraints, and guilt. They are revolutionary and impact the peaceful life I desire to live.
This is my personal matter, I must solve it myself and find my own path.
Childhood gradually withers and dies, loved ones and things gradually become distant, only loneliness and the cold world accompany.
If an animal or a person's attention and thoughts are completely focused on a specific thing, then they will definitely be able to achieve their goals. It's just like that. If you spend enough time observing a person, in the end, you will know them better than they know themselves.
Human interests are broader than animals, but we also have our own limitations that we cannot overcome.
To achieve a certain goal, you look directly into the other person's eyes. If they are completely calm, then you can only give up. You cannot control such a person, never. However, this situation is rare, and I have only encountered it once in one person.
What use is repentance for someone who is about to go to hell? It is just another story of the priest's exhortation to do good, with some touching elements and background, sweet but not real.
Everyone needs to explore their own taboos and legitimacy.
People who are negligent in independent thinking and self-judgment can only conform to existing secular rules and make life easier.
What a righteous person often does may be taboo to him, and what he considers reasonable may be despised by others. So, everyone should have their own judgment.
I started a new exercise in the bedroom: sitting straight on a chair, not moving my eyes or my whole body, to see how long I can hold on and what I can feel. The result is that I only feel tired, and my eyes are itchy.
Demian went on a journey, and I am alone again.

Beatrice#

I started to be alone again, and fell in love with reading and walking.
My dreams, my expectations, and my inner changes cannot be told to anyone, even if I want to. And I have no way to start.

Birds Break Out of the Shell with Effort#

I often think, am I crazy? Why am I always different from others? But I can do what others can do, with a little effort and diligence, I can understand Plato, solve trigonometric functions, and complete chemical analysis. The only thing I can't do is abandon the hidden goals in my heart and put myself into some kind of plan like everyone else.
She doesn't care if something is good or bad, or if it's ordinary or extraordinary.
"We often define the boundaries of personality too narrowly, and we are used to seeing our own traits as our own possessions. In fact, our existence comes from the overall composition of the world. Each of us, including our bodies, can be traced back to fish, or even further in the past. Therefore, the possession of our minds is also shared by the human mind. All the gods and ghosts that have existed, whether they are Greek, Chinese, or Zulu, exist as a possibility, a desire, and a way out. If humanity is extinct and only an uneducated child with average intelligence is left, he will also find the origins of everything, maybe gods, demons, heaven, creeds, and rules, the New Testament and the Old Testament, everything can be recreated."
Without consciousness, he is just a tree or a stone, at most an animal. It is only when the first spark of cognition awakens that he becomes human.

Jacob's Battle#

Sometimes you may feel strange and blame yourself for being different from others. This kind of thinking is absolutely not allowed.
Some significant ideas should not be casually suppressed or measured by morality. It is useless to do so.
When we hate someone, we are actually hating something in ourselves that is reflected in their image. Things that do not exist in our hearts will not evoke strong emotions in us.
Most people choose the easy path, but we are destined to choose the difficult path and remain true to our original intentions.
Even kind people sometimes fall into injustice and ingratitude in life, and there seems to be no exception. We will eventually part ways with our fathers and teachers and experience the taste of loneliness and indifference.
It is ridiculous to laboriously search for profound knowledge among the ruins of the old world.
His duty may be to help people find themselves, just as he helped me, rather than giving them an unheard-of new god.
The only responsibility of awakened people is to find themselves, become themselves, and explore their own path, no matter where it leads.
I wrote on paper, "A mentor has left me, and I cannot walk alone in the dark night. Please help me!

Frau Eva#

Japan is not much better either. There are not many people who do not go with the flow here either.
Life is difficult for everyone. You know, even birds have to make great efforts to break out of their shells. But think carefully, is there only difficulty in life and no wonderful moments? Have you seen a more beautiful and easier life?
You should not give yourself to wishes that you cannot trust. I know what you want, either give up or pursue it wholeheartedly. As long as you are confident, your wishes will come true. If you have dreams and hesitate, afraid of regretting, you will definitely not get what you want. You need to overcome this mentality. Sinclair, let me tell you a fairy tale...
Most people's love is losing themselves in life.

Ending and New Beginning#

Why can't people live for their own ideals? What I see now is that almost everyone can die for their ideals, but that ideal is not a personal free choice, but a common one inherited from others.