The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 02: Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. in Twenty Volumes
General
The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 02: Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. in Twenty Volumes
German literature -- 19th century -- Translations into English; German literature -- 20th century -- Translations into English
In a higher sphere of action than was his at Dresden, in the nobler
world revealed to him at Rome, he remained the same. What he learned
from Mengs, what he was taught by his surroundings, he did not keep long
to himself; he did not let the new wine ferment and clarify; but rather
as we say that one learns from teaching, so he learned while planning
and writing. How many a title has he left us, how many subjects has he
not mentioned upon which a work was to follow! Like this beginning was
his entire antiquarian career. We find him always active--occupied with
the moment, which he seizes and holds fast as if it only could be
complete and satisfactory, and even so he let himself be instructed by
the following moment. This attitude of mind should be remembered in
forming an estimate of his works.
That they ultimately received their present form, printed directly from
Winckelmann's manuscript notes, is due to many often unimportant
circumstances. A single month later and we should have had works, more
correct in content, more precise in form, perhaps something quite
different. Just for this reason we so deeply regret his premature death,
because he would have constantly rewritten his works and enriched them
with the attainments of the (ever) later phases of his life.
Everything that he has left us, therefore, was written as something
living for the living, not for those who are dead in the letter. His
works, combined with his correspondence, are the story of a life; they
are a life itself. Like the life of most people, they resemble rather a
preparation for a work than the latter in its accomplishment. They give
cause for hopes, for wishes, for premonitions. If one tries to correct
them he sees that he must first correct himself; if he wishes to
criticize them, he sees that he might himself, upon a higher plane of
knowledge, be subjected to the same criticism; for limitation is
everywhere our lot.
PHILOSOPHY
With the progress of civilization, not all parts of human labor and
activity in which culture is revealed, flourish equally; rather in
accordance with the favorable character of persons and conditions, one
necessarily surpasses the other, and thus arouses a more general
interest. A certain jealous displeasure often arises in consequence,
among members of a family so varied in its branches, who often are the
less able to endure one another, the more closely they are related.
It is for the most part a baseless complaint, when this or that adept in
science and art complains that just his branch is being neglected by
contemporaries; for an able master has only to appear in order to
concentrate attention upon himself. If Raphael should reappear today, we
should bestow upon him a superabundance of honor and riches. An able
master arouses excellent pupils and their activities extend their
ramifications into the infinite.
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