Sublime

The group known as the Weimar Classicists, led by the towering figure of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, ushered in a new kind of individualism that was emotional rather than rational, artistic rather than scientific. The period of the Romantic individualist had begun.

Er war zu allem bereit, aber zu wenig imstande.

It is, then, depth and truth and sanity of observation which chiefly mark these sayings of Goethe. It is no concern of his to dazzle the mind by the brilliance of his wit; nor does he labour to say things because they are striking, but only because they are true.

As Goethe’s maxim goes, “The greatest respect an author can have for his public is never to produce what is expected but what he himself considers right and useful for whatever stage of intellectual development has been reached by himself and others.”

Goethe n’a pas besoin de quitter le moins du monde cette terre pour atteindre l’infini : lentement, avec patience, il l’attire à lui. Sa méthode est une méthode toute capitaliste : il met de côté régulièrement comme bénéfice spirituel une partie de l’expérience acquise qu’en fin d’année il fait figurer avec soin dans ses livres comme un commerçant

en pensant au mot de Goethe : « Il a appris, il peut nous instruire5. »

the mushrooms are growing?