Political philosopher Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) was born on this day in Hanover, Germany. A lover of philosophy from a young age, she immersed herself in the writings of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Immanuel Kant, and later studied with philosopher Karl Jaspers.

She once said, “Nothing we use or hear or touch can be expressed in words that equal what we are given by the senses.”

Arendt fled Nazi Germany for France in 1933, then sought refuge in the United States, becoming an American citizen in 1951. In 1959, she became the first woman appointed to a full professorship at Princeton University.

Calling herself a “politically conscious pariah,” Arendt spent her life trying to understand the nature of power through original writing and teaching.

“No cause is left but the most ancient of all, the one, in fact, that from the beginning of our history has determined the very existence of politics: the cause of freedom versus tyranny,” she said.

Considered one of the major political thinkers of the twentieth century, her books included The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), a study of totalitarianism and its roots; The Human Condition (1958), an exploration of humanity, action, and freedom; and On Violence (1970), an examination of violence and politics.

Her controversial report on the trial of Adolf Eichmann introduced her famous phrase, “the banality of evil.” Arendt explored how ordinary people may participate in terrible acts when they surrender independent thought and personal responsibility.

“Equality is not given to us, but is the result of human organization insofar as it is guided by the principle of justice,” she wrote.

Arendt believed that freedom is not merely an idea. It becomes real when people think carefully, accept responsibility, and choose to act. Forgiveness, in her view, releases us from what cannot be undone and allows a new beginning to become possible.

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