Feuerbach, F., Gedanken und Tatsachen. op. cit. Hamburg, 1862, p. 4. Tr. V.I. Chastra.
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Love of humanity … belongs undeniably to the conditions of human welfare; but if it consists in mutual assistance in the striving for happiness and wellbeing, and if this happiness and wellbeing consist above all – as is likewise undeniable – in the satisfaction of our inborn natural drives and the development of our natural powers … [then] the most fertile soil for love of humanity will evidently not be the belief that human nature is thoroughly degenerate and worthless, but rather in the view according to which we regard it [viz., human nature] as the essentially and generally acceptable foundation and condition of all our being, feeling, thinking and striving…

— Friedrich Feuerbach

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Love of humanity … belongs undeniably to the conditions of human welfare; but if it consists in mutual assistance in the striving for happiness and wellbeing, and if this happiness and wellbeing consist above all – as is likewise undeniable – in the satisfaction of our inborn natural drives and the development of our natural powers … [then] the most fertile soil for love of humanity will evidently not be the belief that human nature is thoroughly degenerate and worthless, but rather in the view according to which we regard it [viz., human nature] as the essentially and generally acceptable foundation and condition of all our being, feeling, thinking and striving…" in the context of "Feuerbach, F., Gedanken und Tatsachen. op. cit. Hamburg, 1862, p. 4. Tr. V.I. Chastra." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Friedrich Feuerbach" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 19, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Friedrich Feuerbach

About Friedrich Feuerbach

Friedrich Heinrich Feuerbach (29 September 1806 – 24 January 1880) was a German philologist and philosopher. In the 1840s, he played an important role disseminating materialist and atheist philosophy.