Talk:Meister Eckhart

Latest comment: 2 years ago by Johannes Rohr in topic What about falsely attributed quotes?

Can someone find a picture of Eckhart and upload it on wikicommons? I don't know how too. —This unsigned comment is by 2.28.36.82 (talkcontribs) .

What about falsely attributed quotes? edit

On the English language Internet you find a quote "the knower and the known are one" commonly attributed to Meister Eckhart. I tried to find its German or Latin source and I didn't find it. Instead, I found extended versions of the English quote, such as this one:

“The knower and the known are one. Simple people imagine that they should see God as if he stood there and they here. This is not so. God and I, we are one in knowledge.”

The source for this one seems to be his Middle High German sermon "iusti vivent in aeternum", and the original goes:

"There are simple people who imagine they are going to see God as if He were standing here or there. This is not true. God and I are one." (Middle High German: "Sumlîche einveltige liute wænent, sie süln got sehen, als er dâ stande und sie hie. Des enist niht. Got und ich wir sîn ein.")

That's still a stunning quote for a Medieval Christian theologian, but without that Buddhist sounding talk about "the knower and the known". Someone seems to have added the latter to the English translation, and in another evolution, the original quote has been dropped altogether and just the addition has become prominent. Since it has become so prominent, wouldn't it make sense to list it as a falsely attributed resp. falsified quote? --Johannes Rohr (talk) 15:24, 16 January 2022 (UTC)Reply

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