Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (10 November 1759 - 9 May 1805) was a German poet, historian, and dramatist, usually known as Friedrich Schiller. During the last few years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang Goethe, with whom he greatly discussed issues concerning aesthetics, encouraging Goethe to finish works he left merely as sketches; this thereby gave way to a period now referred to as Weimar Classicism. They also worked together on Die Xenien (The Xenies), a collection of short but harshly satirical poems in which both Schiller and Goethe verbally attacked those persons they perceived to be enemies of their aesthetic agenda.Some really awesome quotations, I'll post more of him in the future. Can't wait to get some of his works from my library. He also has an interesting freemasonic history, or not. Quotes:
Folly, thou conquerest, and I must yield!
Against stupidity the very gods
Themselves contend in vain. Exalted reason,
Resplendent daughter of the head divine,
Wise foundress of the system of the world,
Guide of the stars, who art thou then if thou,
Bound to the tail of folly's uncurbed steed,
Must, vainly shrieking with the drunken crowd,
Eyes open, plunge down headlong in the abyss.
Accursed, who striveth after noble ends,
And with deliberate wisdom forms his plans!
To the fool-king belongs the world.
I feel an army in my fist.
The voice of the majority is no proof of justice.
Deeper meaning resides in the fairy tales told to me in my childhood than in any truth that is taught in life.
It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons.
Live with your century but do not be its creature.
Did you think the lion was sleeping because he didn't roar?
To save all we must risk all.
What one refuses in a minute
No eternity will return.
Virtue is no empty echo.
Appearance should never attain reality,
And if nature conquers, then must art retire.
Pain is short, and joy is eternal.
I am better than my reputation.
Life is only error,
And death is knowledge.
What are hopes, what are plans?
The dignity of mankind is in your hands; protect it!
It sinks with you! With you it will ascend.
Threefold the stride of Time, from first to last!
Loitering slow, the Future creepeth —
Arrow-swift, the Present sweepeth —
And motionless forever stands the Past.
On the mountains there is freedom!
The world is perfect everywhere,
Save where man comes with his torment.
Only through Beauty's morning gate, dost thou enter the land of Knowledge.
Don't let your heart depend on things
That ornament life in a fleeting way!
He who possesses, let him learn to lose,
He who is fortunate, let him learn pain.
On the mountains there is freedom!
The world is perfect everywhere,
Save where man comes with his torment.
Against stupidity the very gods
Themselves contend in vain. Exalted reason,
Resplendent daughter of the head divine,
Wise foundress of the system of the world,
Guide of the stars, who art thou then if thou,
Bound to the tail of folly's uncurbed steed,
Must, vainly shrieking with the drunken crowd,
Eyes open, plunge down headlong in the abyss.
Accursed, who striveth after noble ends,
And with deliberate wisdom forms his plans!
To the fool-king belongs the world.
I feel an army in my fist.
The voice of the majority is no proof of justice.Deeper meaning resides in the fairy tales told to me in my childhood than in any truth that is taught in life.
It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons.
Live with your century but do not be its creature.
Did you think the lion was sleeping because he didn't roar?
To save all we must risk all.
What one refuses in a minute
No eternity will return.
Virtue is no empty echo.
Appearance should never attain reality,
And if nature conquers, then must art retire.
Pain is short, and joy is eternal.
I am better than my reputation.
Life is only error,
And death is knowledge.
What are hopes, what are plans?
The dignity of mankind is in your hands; protect it!It sinks with you! With you it will ascend.
Threefold the stride of Time, from first to last!
Loitering slow, the Future creepeth —
Arrow-swift, the Present sweepeth —
And motionless forever stands the Past.
On the mountains there is freedom!
The world is perfect everywhere,
Save where man comes with his torment.
Only through Beauty's morning gate, dost thou enter the land of Knowledge.
Don't let your heart depend on things
That ornament life in a fleeting way!
He who possesses, let him learn to lose,
He who is fortunate, let him learn pain.
On the mountains there is freedom!
The world is perfect everywhere,
Save where man comes with his torment.
3 comments:
I JUST learned about Rudolph Steiner. Who also worked with GOETHE!!!!
You should look up his audio lectures - which are all free, streaming online.
If you don't know him already. I'm sure you would dig him. He's the real deal.
Thuth
Wow, thanks for this post! Schiller and Goethe are still our greatest poets, and I'm just starting to realise how much they actually knew about the deeper, hm, mysteries of life. And their command of German was / is simply astonishing, looking at (most of) today's shallow and rude blabla ...
Posted Steiner stuff before, tried to read a book of his but found it very meh and the jury is still way out. Will check out the audio lectures though.
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