Snell's main work "The Discovery of the Spirit" was important for the reorientation of the post-war generation, according to DIE ZEIT on Bruno Snell's 90th birthday in 1986. The "Studies on the Emergence of the European Spirit among the Greeks," compiled and continually expanded in this book, have since been translated into all world languages. Even sixty years after their initial publication, they have lost none of their inspiration. For his student Walter Jens, "The Discovery of the Spirit" is "the book of a classicist who is an excellent writer." The present 9th edition remains unchanged from the 8th edition.