Siddhartha Chapters 1-5 Key Passages

Chapter 2  “Siddhartha had one single goal - to become empty, to become empty of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure, and sorrow - to let the Self die” (14).

Chapter 2  “He lost his Self a thousand times and for days on end he dwelt in non-being. But although the paths took him away from Self, in the end they always led back to it” (15-16).

Chapter 2   “There is, my friend, only a knowledge that is everywhere, that is Ataman, that is in me and you and every creature, and I am beginning to believe that this knowledge has no worse enemy than the man of knowledge, than learning” (19).

Chapter 2 “What I have so far learned from the Samanas I could have learned more quickly and easily in every inn in a prostitute’s quarter...” (16).

Chapter 3 “With a secret smile, not unlike that of a healthy child, he walked along peacefully, quietly” (27).

Chapter 3 “Its goal is quite different; its goal is salvation from suffering. That is what Gotama teaches, nothing else” (33).

Chapter 3 “That is why I am going on my way—not to seek a another and better doctrine, for I know there is none, but to leave all doctrines and all teachers and to reach my goal alone—or die” (34).

 chapter 3 “Be on your guard against too much cleverness” (35).

Chapter 4 “He realized that something had left him, like the old skin that a snake sheds” (37).

Chapter 4 “I will learn from myself, be my own pupil; I will learn from myself the secret of Siddhartha” (39).

Chapter 4  “Siddhartha looked up and around him; a smile crept over his face, and a strong feeling of awakening from a long dream spread right through his being” (39).

Chapter 4 “…an icy chill stole over him. He shivered inwardly like a small animal, like a bird or a hare, when he realized how alone he was” (41).

Chapter 4 “…but he was more firmly himself than ever” (41).

Chapter 5  “All this had always been and he had never seen it; he was never present. Now he was present and belonged to it” (46).

Chapter 5 “He must gain experience himself. He had known for a long time that his Self was Atman, of the same eternal nature as Brahman, but he had never really found himself because he had wanted to trap it in a net of thoughts” (47).

Chapter 5  “One can learn much from a river” (49).

Chapter 5 “All whom I meet on the way are like Govinda. All are grateful, although they themselves deserve thanks. All are subservient, all wish to be my friend, to obey and to think little. People are like children” (49).

Chapter 5  “Everyone can perform magic, everyone can reach his goal, if he can think, wait and fast” (60).