Subtitle
Author
Rüdiger Safranski
Full Title
Goethe: Life as a Work of Art
Genre
Biography & Autobiography
Page Count
405
Pages Read
200
Progress
●●●●○○○○○○ 49%
Reading Status
Paused
Rating
Read Dates
Mar 3, 2026
ISBN_10
0871404915
ISBN_13
9780871404916
Notes, Highlights & Quotes
“No longer discouraged by the great men, he was instead guided by his own high standards, which he had so far failed to meet. The key words he noted down for a planned autobiography in 1767 were Self-development through the transformation of experience into an image. These few words adumbrated his poetics of the time. It was not enough to be in conformity with everyday reality, nor to simply express one's inner life. Experience is fleeting, and artistic creation preserves a lasting trace, an image: experience given a form. The young Goethe was already well versed in the manipulation of forms, but he had since learned that one must fill them with their own life. He called it working according to nature, which also meant leaving himself free so that something could grow and flour-ish. He knew he possessed characteristics... necessary for a poet. He just needed to be left alone, not distracted by prémature criticism. Only then would he be able to show his true nature. Let them leave me be. If I possess genius, I shall become a poet even if no one corrects me. If I possess none, no critiques will help.”“But this is ultimately a defensive attempt to carve out a sacred space, separate from ordinary life, in order to protect transcendence from the leveling effects of society. The momentary bliss he feels is restricted, for his gaze remains fixed on the limits of space and time. It resembles what happens in prayer. In the "Notes and Essays toward a Better Understanding of the West-Eastern Divan," he writes that in most cases, prayer does not pervade life. Usually an effulgent sense of momentary bliss is followed by disenchantment, and the unsatisfied... person, returned to himself, falls back into the most unending boredom, the boredom of mundane life.”