Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel - State Quotes

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Only in the state does man have a rational existence…Man owes his entire existence to the state, and has his being within it alone. Whatever worth and spiritual reality he possesses are his solely by virtue of the state.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Between the Shaman of the Tungus, the European prelate who rules church and state, the Voguls, and the Puritans, on the one hand, and the man who listens to his own command of duty, on the other, the difference is not that the former make themselves slaves, while the latter is free, but that the former have their lord outside themselves, while the latter carries his lord in himself, yet at the same time is his own slave.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Once the state has been founded, there can no longer be any heroes. They come on the scene only in uncivilized conditions.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
It is easier to perceive the shortcomings of individuals, states, and the course of world affairs than to understand their true impact.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
The essence of the modern state is the union of the universal with the full freedom of the particular, and with the welfare of individuals.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
As high as mind stands above nature, so high does the state stand above physical life. Man must therefore venerate the state as a secular deity. The march of God in the world, that is what the State is.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
It is easier to discover a deficiency in individuals, in states, and in providence, than to see their real import or value.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Regarding History as the slaughter-bench at which the happiness of peoples, the wisdom of States, and the virtue of individuals have been victimized--the question involuntarily arises--to what principle, to what final aim these enormous sacrifices have been offered.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
When we walk the streets at night in safety, it does not strike us that this might be otherwise. This habit of feeling safe has become second nature, and we do not reflect on just how this is due solely to the working of special institutions. Commonplace thinking often has the impression that force holds the state together, but in fact its only bond is the fundamental sense of order which everybody possesses.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
The true courage of civilized nations is readiness for sacrifice in the service of the state, so that the individual counts as only one amongst many. The important thing here is not personal mettle but aligning oneself with the universal.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel