"The soul passeth from form to form; and the mansions of her pilgrimage are manifold"
About this Quote
The word choice is doing covert theological work. "Form to form" implies continuity without sameness: the soul persists while its outward condition, understanding, even its moral texture can transform. "Mansions" suggests both shelter and hierarchy. Some rooms are cramped, provisional; others are spacious, nearer to home. That lets Hermes speak about gradations of spiritual maturity without the crudeness of labeling people saved/unsaved, enlightened/unenlightened. It's a gentle scalpel.
Context matters: Hermes, a German Catholic theologian in the wake of the Enlightenment, was steeped in debates about reason, conscience, and how belief becomes justified. His broader project tried to make faith intellectually accountable; he was later condemned for it. Read against that tension, the quote doubles as self-defense. It argues that the soul's movement through "manifold" stages is not a threat to doctrine but a feature of a living, reasoning faith. The subtext: give people time. Spiritual truth may be fixed, but human access to it is painfully, necessarily sequential.
Quote Details
| Topic | Meaning of Life |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Hermes, Georg. (2026, January 15). The soul passeth from form to form; and the mansions of her pilgrimage are manifold. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-soul-passeth-from-form-to-form-and-the-114407/
Chicago Style
Hermes, Georg. "The soul passeth from form to form; and the mansions of her pilgrimage are manifold." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-soul-passeth-from-form-to-form-and-the-114407/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The soul passeth from form to form; and the mansions of her pilgrimage are manifold." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-soul-passeth-from-form-to-form-and-the-114407/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.










