Martha Kennedy posted: " Discovering Goethe was an accident. My grandfather -- who was born in 1870 and only went through 6th grade though some say 3rd -- had, as a favorite writer and hero, someone who regarded Goethe as a hero and teacher. The featured photo shows my grand" "Summer is the season of inferior sledding" - Inuit proverb
My grandfather -- who was born in 1870 and only went through 6th grade though some say 3rd -- had, as a favorite writer and hero, someone who regarded Goethe as a hero and teacher. The featured photo shows my grandfather's copy of Thomas Carlyle's Lectures on the Hero with my copy of Correspondence between Goethe and Carlyle. When I discovered that book I felt a connection to that old man that I never really knew, not Goethe or Carlyle, my grandfather. I wondered if he'd read the Correspondence. I wondered if he'd "met" Goethe. The link between my grandfather's favorite writer and mine meant, means, something to me.
Some writers are just dead guys who said cool stuff. Goethe is more (to me). I "met" Goethe at exactly the right time for me to meet Goethe. Our first meeting was on the streets of Zürich. It was just a casual meeting, a nodding of the heads. On my table here in front of me is a photo of that first encounter. I never met him in school. No pedantic English teacher shoved Goethe's work down my throat or gave me exams or told me what to think about it. I had the great privilege of being a grown up person (46) with a good education when we began our acquaintance in the library at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, CA. The book was Italian Journey.
"People are always talking about originality; but what do they mean? As soon as we are born, the world begins to work upon us, and this goes on to the end. What can we call our own except energy, strength and will? If I could give an accound of all that I owe to great predecessors and contemporaries, there would be but a small balance in my favour." Goethe from Conversations of Goethe
So on this, Goethe's birthday, here are a couple of sweet posts from former years to celebrate his 274th birthday.
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