Due to spam and off-topic content, these forums are being phased out and replaced with new great books forums. Please join us!

Posted by katie on May 01, 19104 at 18:39:34:

I don't know if Kim's question has been answered as to authenticity of the famous quote. But here's one I got from a biography of Goethe that I really like:
"To live within limits, to want one thing, or a very few things, very much and love them very dearly, cling to them, survey them from every angle, become one with them -- that is what makes the poet, the artist, the human being."
Reminds me of something Camille Saint-Seans said of Mozart: "What gives Bach and Mozart a place apart is that these two great composers never sacrificed form to expression. As high as their expression may soar, their musical form remains supreme and all-efficient."

It's inexplicable to think that expression soars within form, but then as Goethe said of Mozart: "A phenomenon like Mozart remains an inexplicable thing." And I suppose it's the contradiction of Goethe's quote that attracts me - to simplify desires, to live "within limits" is somehow powerful. You'd think it would be the opposite . . .

Follow Ups:

Post a Followup