Nikolai Berdyaev Quotes

Russia, Philosopher
March 18, 1874 – March, 24, 1948.

Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev (/bərˈdjɑːjɛf, -jɛv/; Russian: Никола́й Алекса́ндрович Бердя́ев) was a Russian political and also Christian religious philosopher who emphasized the existential spiritual significance of human freedom and the human person. Alternate historical spellings of his name in English include "Berdiaev" and "Berdiaeff", and of his given name as "Nicolas" and "Nicholas".

Bread for myself is a material question. Bread for my neighbor is a spiritual one.

Nikolai Berdyaev
- Question
- Neighbor
- Bread
Creativity is the mystery of freedom.

Nikolai Berdyaev

Time is the product of changing realities, beings, existences.

Nikolai Berdyaev
Self-realization is a process of permanent auto-creation, an elaboration of the new man at the expense of the old.

Nikolai Berdyaev
I do not think discursively. It is not so much that I arrive at truth as that I take my start from it.

Nikolai Berdyaev
- Truth
- Start
- Arrive
The will to originality is not the will to be peculiar and unlike anybody else; it means the desire to derive one's consciousness from its primary source.

Nikolai Berdyaev
Every single human soul has more meaning and value than the whole of history.

Nikolai Berdyaev
- History
- Value
- Human Soul
Philosophy... is the creative perception by the spirit of the meaning of human existence.

Nikolai Berdyaev

Victory over fear is the first spiritual duty of man.

Nikolai Berdyaev
- Fear
- Victory
- Duty
Death, that final evil, is one of the paths to eternity. Endless life in the conditions of our existence would be a nightmare.

Nikolai Berdyaev
- Death
- Evil
- Eternity
Every moral act of love, of mercy, and of sacrifice brings to pass the end of the world where hatred, cruelty, and selfishness reign supreme.

Nikolai Berdyaev
- Love
- Mercy
- Selfishness