quote · Legacy record
Honestly, I cannot understand what people mean when they talk about the freedom of the human will. I have a feeling, for instance, that I will something or other; but what relation this has with freedom I cannot understand at all. I feel that I will to light my pipe and I do it; but how can I connect this up with the idea of freedom? What is behind the act of willing to light the pipe? Another act of willing? Schopenhauer once said: Der Mensch kann was er will; er kann aber nicht wollen was er will (Man can do what he will but he cannot will what he wills).
Honestly, I cannot understand what people mean when they talk about the freedom of the human will. I have a feeling, for instance, that I will something or other; but what relation this has with freedom I cannot understand at all. I feel that I will to light my pipe and I do it; but how can I connect this up with the idea of freedom? What is behind the act of willing to light the pipe? Another act of willing? Schopenhauer once said: Der Mensch kann was er will; er kann aber nicht wollen was er will (Man can do what he will but he cannot will what he wills).
Approximate author period: c. 1917 AD · modern
Meaning not yet available
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- Author or tradition
- Albert Einstein
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1917 AD · modern
Approximate author-period anchor from life dates 1879 to 1955; Wikidata Q937, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q937 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 80556; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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