33 Which nation is best worth belonging to?

There is not one in which the good is not counterbalanced by evil. Each is a caricature of man, a proof that no one among them deserves to crush the others, and that all have something to learn from all. I am alternately struck with the qualities and with the defects of each, which is perhaps lucky for a critic. I am conscious of no preference for the defects of north or south, of west or east; and I should find a difficulty in stating my own predilections. Indeed, I myself am wholly indifferent in the matter, for to me the question is not one of liking or of blaming, but of understanding. My point of view is philosophical-that is to say, impartial and impersonal. The only type which pleases me is perfectionman, in short, the ideal man. As for the national man, I bear with and study him, but I have no admiration for him. I can only admire the fine specimens of the race, the great men, the geniuses, the lofty characters and noble souls, and specimens of these are to be found in all the ethnographical divisions. The "country of my choice" (to quote Madame de Staël) is with the chosen souls.

34 The modern haunters of Parnassus 1 carve urns of agate and of onyx, but inside the urns what is there?-ashes. Their work lacks feeling, seriousness, sincerity, and pathosin a word, soul and moral life. I cannot bring myself to sympathize with such a way of understanding poetry. The talent shown is astonishing, but stuff and matter are wanting. It is an effort of the imagination to stand alone—a substitute for everything else. We find metaphors, rhymes, music, color, but not man, not humanity. Poetry of this factitious kind

1 Amiel's expression is Les Parnassiens, an old name revived, which nowadays describes the younger school of French poetry represented by such names as Théophile Gautier, Leconte de Lisle, Théodore de Banville and Baudelaire. [From the translator's note, written in or about the year 1885.1-For relevant matter see below, pp. 405f.; also Poetry, p. 559.

may beguile one at twenty, but what can one make of it at fifty? It reminds me of Pergamos, of Alexandria, of all the epochs of decadence when beauty of form hid poverty of thought and exhaustion of feeling. I strongly share the repugnance which this poetical school arouses in simple people. It is as though it only cared to please the world-worn, the over-subtle, the corrupted, while it ignores all normal healthy life, virtuous habits, pure affections, steady labor, honesty, and duty. It is an affectation, and because it is an affectation the school is struck with sterility. The reader desires in the poet something better than a juggler in rhyme, or a conjurer in verse; he looks to find in him a painter of life, a being who thinks, loves, and has a conscience, who feels passion and repentance.

35 How much folly is compatible with ultimate wisdom. and prudence? It is difficult to say. The cleverest folk are those who discover soonest how to utilize their neighbor's experience, and so get rid in good time of their natural presumption.

36 These writers 1 press wit, grace, gayety, and charm into the service of goodness; their desire is to show that virtue is not so dull nor common sense so tiresome as people believe. They are persuasive moralists, captivating story-tellers; they rouse the appetite for good. This pretty manner of theirs, however, has its dangers. A moral wrapped up in sugar goes down certainly, but it may be feared that it only goes down because of its sugar. The Sybarites of to-day will tolerate a sermon which is delicate enough to flatter their literary sensuality; but it is their taste which is charmed, not their conscience which is awakened; their principle of conduct. escapes untouched.

1 Stahl and Legouvé.

Amusement, instruction, morals, are distinct genres. They may no doubt be mingled and combined, but if we wish to obtain direct and simple effects, we shall do best to keep them apart. The well-disposed child, besides, does not like mixtures which have something of artifice and deception in them. Duty claims obedience; study requires application; for amusement, nothing is wanted but good temper. To convert obedience and application into means of amusement is to weaken the will and the intelligence. These efforts to make virtue the fashion are praiseworthy enough, but if they do honor to the writers, on the other hand they prove the moral anæmia of society. When the digestion is unspoiled, so much persuading is not necessary to give it a taste for bread.

37 Influence belongs to men of action, and for purposes of action nothing is more useful than narrowness of thought combined with energy of will.

38 Material results are but the tardy sign of invisible activities. The bullet has started long before the noise of the report has reached us. The decisive events of the world take place in the intellect.

27 REFLECTIONS, MAXIMS, CONVERSATIONS1

Goethe

high let MAN external circumstances, and as little as possible to

[AN'S highest virtue always is as much as possible to rule

himself be ruled by them. Life lies before us, as a huge quarry before the architect: he deserves not the name of architect except, out of this fortuitous mass, he can combine, with the greatest economy, suitableness and durability, some form, the pattern of which originated in his own soul. All things without us—nay, I may add, all things within us— are mere elements; but deep in the inmost shrine of our nature lies the creative force, which out of these can produce what they were meant to be, and which leaves us neither sleep nor rest, till in one way or another, without us or within us, this product has taken shape.

2 When I become acquainted with a man my first inquiry is: With what does he occupy himself, and how, and with what degree of perseverance? The answer regulates the

interest which I take in that man for life.

3 Nothing more exposes us to madness than distinguishing ourselves from others, and nothing more contributes to maintain our common sense than living in the common way with multitudes of men.

4 Men are so inclined to content themselves with what is common-the spirit and the senses so easily grow dead to

1 Selected passages, reprinted-with a few slight alterations-from The Wisdom of Goethe, by John Stuart Blackie, and, with the permission of Harcourt, Brace and Company, from Goethe's Literary Essays, by J. E. Spingarn.

the impressions of the beautiful and perfect-that every one should study to nourish in his mind the faculty of feeling the best things by every method in his power. For no man can bear to be entirely deprived of such enjoyments; it is only because they are not used to taste of what is excellent, that so many people take delight in silly and insipid things, provided they be new. For this reason one ought every day at least to hear a pleasant song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it be possible, speak a few reasonable words.

5 I read some pieces of Molière's every year, just as, from time to time, I contemplate the engravings after the great Italian masters. For we little men are not able to retain the greatness of such things within ourselves; we must therefore return to them from time to time, and renew our impressions.

6 [Addressed to Eckermann.] Taste is only to be educated by contemplation, not of the tolerably good, but of the truly excellent. I therefore show you only the best works; and when you are grounded in these, you will have a standard for the rest, which you will know how to value, without overrating them.

7 There is nothing by which men display their character so much as in what they consider ridiculous.

8 There is a politeness of the heart; this is closely allied to love. Those who possess this purest fountain of natural politeness find it easy to express the same in forms of outward propriety.

9 To preserve our place and our peace of mind with pleasure in the face of the decided superiority of another,