Understanding is, in its essence, an event of effective history.
Verstehen ist seinem Wesen nach ein wirkungsgeschichtlicher Vorgang.

Philosophers
Hans-Georg Gadamer
German philosopher (1900-2002), central figure of twentieth-century hermeneutics. Truth and Method (1960) introduced the fusion of horizons, the productivity of prejudice, and understanding as dialogue.
View this figure's profile
Hans-Georg Gadamer's Other Quotes
Related Quotes
Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.
-- Hannah Arendt
One who knows how to speak does not seek to be right but seeks to understand.
-- Hans-Georg Gadamer
The first thing we can say of life is that it is a nexus.
-- Wilhelm Dilthey
In order to understand what another person is saying, you must assume it is true and try to imagine what it could be true of.
-- George Armitage Miller