Wisdom can’t be taught

It can only be attained by experience and time

I wanted to emphasise on re-reading books in 2025, I picked up Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, that I first read when I was 18, it was a short read, just 160 pages.

I was obsessed with reading back then, I’d read a book a week, I understood a few, I learned from few, and I loved few. Reading Siddhartha at that time didn’t impress me much because I took it for a spiritual book, it wasn’t a spiritual book.

But the whole point of re-reading books is that sometimes you aren’t ready for the book to be understood by you, but when it does it appears and you begin to flip the pages of it again and then you get it.

Reading Siddhartha again was a similar experience.

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As I started reading, past first few chapters I was able to connect the dots and figure what might happen next in the book and No, it wasn’t because I’ve read it in the past but Siddhartha’s life trajectory looked a lot like ours.

My favorite quote from the book was:

When someone seeks," said Siddhartha, "then it easily happens that his eyes see only the thing that he seeks, and he is able to find nothing, to take in nothing because he always thinks only about the thing he is seeking, because he has one goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: having a goal. But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal.

Sometimes, we get caught up in aiming for goals that may be out of reach. We try to manage things we have no real control over and worry endlessly about what tomorrow might bring. In my own life, I’ve often felt pressured by those around me—my family, my friends—to fit a mold that never quite matched what truly makes me happy. Looking back, I realise much of that came from trying to satisfy others without stopping to figure out what I needed for myself.

What really speaks to me about this book is how it draws on important ideas from Eastern philosophy, yet presents them in a way that makes sense to someone raised with Western values. It feels like a bridge between ancient wisdom and modern thinking, and each time I pick it up, I come away with something new—especially as I move through different stages of life. Right now, Siddhartha reminds me that each of us is on a personal path, learning to find and appreciate what satisfies us in a deeper, more lasting way. I suspect that when I revisit it in a few years, I’ll notice insights I missed before.

I don’t want to sound overexcited or like I’m trying to convince anyone of anything. I just happened to love the book and would enjoy hearing from others who connected with it in a similar way. Let’s compare notes if you have.

The message of the book was, that everyone has to find their own way in order to achieve enlightenment. That is also why Siddhartha declines to become one of Buddha's disciples.

Wisdom can’t be taught. It can only be attained by experience and time.

-Aniket