Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Johan Wolfgang von Goethe-Commentary


I became interested in Johan Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) when I read some of his famous quotes. I have posted a few in the past on this site. I looked up his bio on the internet and I find him to be an independent and complex man. Goethe had a wide variety of interests which may be a reason that I did research on him.
Goethe was a playwright, author, alchemist, lawyer, novelist, politician. He was a driven man whose thirst for knowledge bordered on obsession, in my opinion. Goethe wrote a number of plays which often dealt with events that happened in his life. In his poetic drama FAUST, the main character was interested in alchemy which he was also. Goethe's first play, The Lover's Caprice (1767) was inspired from an unhappy love affair.
I've never read any of Goethe's works, just his quotes. I am fascinated by his interests and contributions to literature and art. It's odd that he wasn't interested in Renaissance art but he was in a sense a Renaissance man. Perhaps, Goethe's life is a lesson to us that we have talents laden within us that are waiting to be tapped and mined. It is probably the reason why I am fascinated with this creative and intense man. Like Goethe, I have a number of interests. Like him, I have the intense desire for knowledge and discovery. I leave you with a word from the play Divine:
Noble be man,
Helpful and good!
For that alone
Sets him apart
From every other creature
On earth.
-The Divine, 1783

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WORDS OF WISDOM

  The best advice I ever got was that knowledge is power and to keep reading. ~David Bailey