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Henri Bergson Quotes

Powerful Henri Bergson for Daily Growth

About Henri Bergson

Henri Bergson (1859-1941), a French philosopher, was born in Warsaw but raised primarily in Paris. He studied at the École Normale Supérieure and became one of the most influential philosophers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Bergson's philosophical journey began under the guidance of the renowned philosopher Jean-Martin Charcot, where he developed an interest in psychology. However, it was his encounter with Victor Delbousset at the Société de biologie that marked a significant shift towards philosophy. In 1889, Bergson published his first major work, 'Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness.' This work introduced his theory of duration, which argues that reality is inherently temporal and cannot be fully grasped by static analysis. In 1907, Bergson published 'Creative Evolution,' a work that delved into the nature of life, change, and the universe. In this book, he proposed the concept of élan vital (vital impulse) to explain the driving force behind evolution. This work earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, although Bergson declined the award as it was for literature rather than philosophy. Throughout his career, Bergson held various academic positions and was a significant figure in French intellectual circles. His ideas have influenced numerous fields, including psychology, biology, sociology, and even physics. Despite facing criticism from some quarters, particularly from logical positivists, Bergson's works continue to inspire philosophical thought.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Life is not a series of static snapshots, but a continuous stream of experiences that blur together."

This quote by Henri Bergson emphasizes the fluidity and continuity of life rather than viewing it as a collection of distinct, separate moments. He encourages us to understand life more like a flowing river or a movie reel, where experiences blend and merge into one another. This perspective challenges the traditional notion that life is made up of individual, self-contained events. Instead, Bergson invites us to appreciate the dynamic, ever-evolving nature of existence itself.

"To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often."

This quote by Henri Bergson emphasizes that growth, adaptation, and transformation are fundamental aspects of life itself. Being "perfect" in this context doesn't refer to a state of absolute flawlessness or completion, but rather a continuous process of improvement and evolution. By constantly changing, we strive for perfection not as a static end goal, but as the result of an ongoing journey where our experiences and learnings shape us into better individuals.

"The essential character of imagination is that it can give concrete existence to ideas which have no existence in the real world."

This quote by Henri Bergson emphasizes the unique ability of human imagination to transcend reality, breathing life into abstract ideas or concepts that don't physically exist. In essence, he suggests that the power of our minds lies not only in understanding and interpreting the world around us, but also in creating new possibilities beyond it, thereby shaping culture, science, and human progress.

"Time and space are concepts devised by our mind, yet they are not inherent in things themselves."

This quote suggests that the concepts we understand as "time" and "space," which we use to organize and navigate the world, are mental constructs, not inherent properties of physical objects or phenomena themselves. In other words, these abstract ideas are products of our mind's organization and interpretation of the world, rather than fundamental aspects of reality itself.

"Real freedom lies in willing something for its own sake; the only way to do that is to be firmly rooted in reality, fully conscious of yourself and your situation."

This quote by Henri Bergson emphasizes the importance of authenticity and self-awareness in achieving true freedom. To will something for its own sake implies pursuing one's actions or goals with sincerity and genuine interest, without being driven by external pressures or expectations. The key to such self-determination lies in having a deep understanding of oneself and one's circumstances - being fully conscious and grounded in reality. By rooting ourselves in the present moment and recognizing our unique place within it, we can discover what truly fulfills us and make choices that align with our intrinsic values, thereby experiencing genuine freedom.

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.

- Henri Bergson

Mature, Exist, Endlessly, Oneself

In reality, the past is preserved by itself automatically.

- Henri Bergson

Past, Itself, Preserved, Automatically

In just the same way the thousands of successive positions of a runner are contracted into one sole symbolic attitude, which our eye perceives, which art reproduces, and which becomes for everyone the image of a man who runs.

- Henri Bergson

Man, Same, Our, Contracted

In its entirety, probably, it follows us at every instant; all that we have felt, thought and willed from our earliest infancy is there, leaning over the present which is about to join it, pressing against the portals of consciousness that would fain leave it outside.

- Henri Bergson

Thought, Against, About, Pressing

Homo sapiens, the only creature endowed with reason, is also the only creature to pin its existence on things unreasonable.

- Henri Bergson

Reason, Existence, Only, Pin

Some other faculty than the intellect is necessary for the apprehension of reality.

- Henri Bergson

Some, Other, Intellect, Apprehension

To perceive means to immobilize... we seize, in the act of perception, something which outruns perception itself.

- Henri Bergson

Which, Means, Itself, Perception

A situation is always comic if it participates simultaneously in two series of events which are absolutely independent of each other, and if it can be interpreted in two quite different meanings.

- Henri Bergson

Always, Other, Which, Simultaneously

Spirit borrows from matter the perceptions on which it feeds and restores them to matter in the form of movements which it has stamped with its own freedom.

- Henri Bergson

Spirit, Own, Which, Perceptions

Wherever anything lives, there is, open somewhere, a register in which time is being inscribed.

- Henri Bergson

Time, Which, Lives, Wherever

I see plainly how external images influence the image that I call my body: they transmit movement to it.

- Henri Bergson

Image, Images, Transmit, External

And I also see how this body influences external images: it gives back movement to them.

- Henri Bergson

Back, Images, Also, External

The major task of the twentieth century will be to explore the unconscious, to investigate the subsoil of the mind.

- Henri Bergson

Mind, Unconscious, Century, Twentieth

Genius is that which forces the inertia of humanity to learn.

- Henri Bergson

Genius, Learn, Which, Inertia

There is nothing in philosophy which could not be said in everyday language.

- Henri Bergson

Nothing, Could, Which, Everyday

You will obtain a vision of matter that is perhaps fatiguing for your imagination, but pure and stripped of what the requirements of life make you add to it in external perception.

- Henri Bergson

Add, Requirements, Obtain, External

There is no greater joy than that of feeling oneself a creator. The triumph of life is expressed by creation.

- Henri Bergson

Joy, Triumph, Creator, Expressed

The motive power of democracy is love.

- Henri Bergson

Love, Power, Democracy, Motive

I cannot escape the objection that there is no state of mind, however simple, that does not change every moment.

- Henri Bergson

Mind, However, Does, Escape

When we make the cerebral state the beginning of an action, and in no sense the condition of a perception, we place the perceived images of things outside the image of our body, and thus replace perception within the things themselves.

- Henri Bergson

Beginning, Image, Images, Perception

For life is tendency, and the essence of a tendency is to develop in the form of a sheaf, creating, by its very growth, divergent directions among which its impetus is divided.

- Henri Bergson

Divergent, Very, Which, Directions

We regard intelligence as man's main characteristic and we know that there is no superiority which intelligence cannot confer on us, no inferiority for which it cannot compensate.

- Henri Bergson

Superiority, Which, Main, Inferiority

In laughter we always find an unavowed intention to humiliate and consequently to correct our neighbour.

- Henri Bergson

Always, Humiliate, Correct, Neighbour

Instinct perfected is a faculty of using and even constructing organized instruments; intelligence perfected is the faculty of making and using unorganized instruments.

- Henri Bergson

Making, Using, Instruments, Constructing

The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect was already in the cause.

- Henri Bergson

More, Found, Contains, Present

Intelligence is the faculty of making artificial objects, especially tools to make tools.

- Henri Bergson

Making, Objects, Artificial, Faculty

Sex appeal is the keynote of our civilization.

- Henri Bergson

Sex, Civilization, Appeal, Sex Appeal

Life does not proceed by the association and addition of elements, but by dissociation and division.

- Henri Bergson

Division, Proceed, Does, Elements

It seems that laughter needs an echo.

- Henri Bergson

Needs, Echo, Seems, Laughter

Our laughter is always the laughter of a group.

- Henri Bergson

Group, Always, Our, Laughter

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