Johann Gottlieb Fichte, in Oliver Joseph Thatcher The Ideas that Have Influenced Civilization, in the Original Documents, Ropberts-Manchester Publishing Company, 1833, p. 329.
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Thus then does the Doctrine of Knowledge, which in its substance is the realisation of the absolute Power of intelligising which has now been defined, end with the recognition of itself as a mere manifestation in a Doctrine of Wisdom, although indeed a necessary and indispensable means to such a Doctrine: a manifestation, the sole aim of which is, with the Knowledge thus acquired, — by which knowledge alone a Will, clear and intelligible to itself and reposing upon itself without wavering or perplexity, is possible, — to return wholly into Actual Life; — not into the Life of blind and irrational Instinct which we have laid bare in all its nothingness, but into the Divine Life which shall become visible to us.

— Johann Gottlieb Fichte on Intelligibility

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Thus then does the Doctrine of Knowledge, which in its substance is the realisation of the absolute Power of intelligising which has now been defined, end with the recognition of itself as a mere manifestation in a Doctrine of Wisdom, although indeed a necessary and indispensable means to such a Doctrine: a manifestation, the sole aim of which is, with the Knowledge thus acquired, — by which knowledge alone a Will, clear and intelligible to itself and reposing upon itself without wavering or perplexity, is possible, — to return wholly into Actual Life; — not into the Life of blind and irrational Instinct which we have laid bare in all its nothingness, but into the Divine Life which shall become visible to us." in the context of "Johann Gottlieb Fichte, in Oliver Joseph Thatcher The Ideas that Have Influenced Civilization, in the Original Documents, Ropberts-Manchester Publishing Company, 1833, p. 329." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Intelligibility" (Quotes: Quotes are arranged alphabetically by author, A - F) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Johann Gottlieb Fichte

About Johann Gottlieb Fichte

Johann Gottlieb Fichte (19 May 1762 – 27 January 1814) was a German philosopher, who was one of the founding figures of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, a movement that developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Kant.