"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 enlightenment on the big and small journeys, and no one can achieve a perfect ending.

Two Worlds#

Cracks can be healed and forgotten, but they will always remain hidden in a corner of the heart, continuing to bleed.
The happiest thing is not having to go to school in the morning, just 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 will always make others afraid.
Misfortune hangs over my head, and all efforts are in vain.
We should not be afraid of others when we are born. If you are afraid of someone, it is because you have given them great power. You did something wrong, which 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 in.
This is my personal matter, I have to 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 the attention and thoughts of an animal or a person are completely focused on a specific thing, then he or she will definitely be able to achieve the goal. It's just like that. If you spend enough time observing a person, you will eventually know more about him than he knows about himself.
Human interests are broader than those of animals, but we also have our own limitations that we cannot break through.
To achieve a certain goal, you look into the other person's eyes. If he is 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 and it didn't work on that person.
What's the use of repentance for someone who is about to go to hell? It's 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 neglect independent thinking and self-judgment can only conform to existing secular rules and make life easier.
What a righteous person usually 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, without moving my eyes or body, to see how long I can persist and what I can feel. As a result, I only felt tired and itchy around my eyes.
Demian went on a journey, and I was alone again.

Beatrice#

I started to be alone again and fell in love with reading and walking again.
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 All Their Might#

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 to abandon the hidden goals in my heart and put myself into some kind of plan like everyone else.
She doesn't care if she is good or bad, or if she is ordinary or extraordinary.
"We often define the boundaries of personality too narrowly and habitually regard our own traits as our personal 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 souls is also shared by human souls. 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, whether it is gods, demons, heaven, creeds, and rules, the New Testament and the Old Testament, all of these can be recreated."
Without consciousness, he is just a tree or a stone, at most an animal. Only when the first spark of cognition awakens, he becomes a human being.

Jacob's Battle#

Sometimes you may feel strange and blame yourself for being different from others. This kind of thinking must be avoided.
Some meaningful ideas should not be casually suppressed or measured by morality, which is useless.
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 search for profound knowledge in 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 move forward alone in the dark night. Please help me!

Mrs. Ava#

Japan is not much better either. There are not many people who do not go with the flow here.
Life is difficult for everyone. You know, even birds have to make great efforts to break out of their shells. But think about it, are there only difficulties 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, the result will definitely not be as you wish. You need to overcome this mentality. Sinclair, let me tell you a fairy tale...
Most people's love is lost in losing themselves.

Ending and New Beginning#

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