[Ads-l] Quote Origin: The Most Dangerous Worldview is the Worldview of Those Who Have Not Viewed the World

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The statement in the subject line has been attributed to the German
naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt.

Brilliant Austrian quotation expert Gerald Krieghofer carefully
examined this topic and found no substantive support for the
attribution to Alexander von Humboldt who died in 1859. Krieghofer
contacted Dr. Ingo Schwarz of the Alexander von Humboldt Research
Center at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
who also indicated that the quotation was absent from the writings of
Humboldt.

Here is a link to Krieghofer's analysis:
https://falschzitate.blogspot.com/2017/09/die-gefahrlichste-aller.html

The earliest known match appeared in 1895 within the "Münchener Kunst-
und Theater-Anzeiger" ("Munich Art and Theater Gazette") which
published the following five lines in an article featuring
"Sinngedichte" ("Epigrammatic Poems") by Moritz Goldschmidt. Thanks to
Arno Tator who found this citation:

[Begin excerpt]
Seltsamste Weltanschauungen heute
Schießen wunderbar üppig ins Kraut
Gefährlich allein ist stets die erneute
Furchtbare Weltanschauung der Leute,
Die die Welt nie angeschaut.
[End excerpt]

[Begin translation]
The strangest worldviews nowadays
Are sprouting up in wild profusion;
The only truly dangerous one is the recurring,
Dreadful worldview of those people
Who have never actually looked at the world.
[End translation]

Here is a link to the Quote Investigator article:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/07/04/not-worldview/

Feedback welcome
Garson O'Toole

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org