What does the word "spring" mean in "a spring of activity" and "a spring of suffering"?

Question

From page 82 of Rethinking Cultural-Historical Theory: A Dialectical Perspective to Vygotsky by Manolis Dafermos,

Man has the consciousness not only of a spring of activity, but also of a spring of suffering in himself. I feel; and I feel feeling (not merely will and thought, which are only too often in opposition to me and my feelings), as belonging to my essential being, and, though the source of all sufferings and sorrows, as a glorious, divine power and perfection. What would Man be without feeling? (Feuerbach 2008, p. 28)

What does the word "spring" mean here?

Answer 1

In this context "spring" means "source", as in a spring of water that bubbles up in a field.

A spring is a place where water moving underground finds an opening to the land surface and emerges, sometimes as just a trickle, maybe only after a rain, and sometimes in a continuous flow. Spring water can also emerge from heated rock underground, giving rise to hot springs, which people have found to make a delightful way of soaking away their problems.

https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/springs-and-water-cycle?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

The author says that there are sources of activity and suffering in ourselves.