J. Marc

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Dear friends,
Thank you all for your support!
The journey has been long and arduous, but I hope that you have really enjoyed some of my works published so far.
Kindest regards,
JMR


F. Schiller: The Essential in 200 Quotes (ID #13223058): http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/f-schiller-the-essential-in-200-quotes/13223058

 
Only when we have decided by ourselves who we are and who we are not, are we relieved from the danger of suffering from other people’s judgment: to be excited by their mark of admiration, or to be put down by their despise.
(Schiller: What can a theater in good standing really achieve?)

The educated man makes of Nature his friend and honors its freedom, while really dominating its arbitrariness.
(Schiller: On the aesthetic education of the human being. Letter #4)



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Frederick Schiller The essential in 200 quotes (e-book)

Frederick Schiller The essential in 200 quotes (paper-book)


https://www.createspace.com/3491382




Frederick Schiller The essays on Aesthetics Volume I (paper-book)

https://www.createspace.com/3527187



Frederick Schiller The essays on Aesthetics Volume II (paper-book)

https://www.createspace.com/3808999




(from "On the writer", the second part of "The song of destiny",

a biography of F. Schiller's by J.M. Rakotolahy)




The scribe, who later was called the secret writer, has long been known to stand beside the regent in his conduct of public affairs. It is the scribe who suggests the suave and diplomatic words to the regent during the visits of foreign dignities. It is the scribe who gives advice about the possible outcomes that could be applied to any given personal or state affair.

We speak of the scribe or the secret writer as a counselor, or according to F. Schiller, as a spirit which moves the state apparatus.

“Like a divinity behind the construction of the world, the poet stays behind his work, he is the work and the work is him.”

(F. Schiller: On naïve and sentimental poetry)

This quote from Friedrich Schiller tells us all about the essence of the poet or more specifically the secret writer. The work of construction of the state is the reflection of the work that the writer is doing upon himself for the state. Should this work be beautiful and accurate, then he should see such beauty and accuracy in the state presented before him, in his frequent work with the representatives of the same state.











William Shakespeare Nicholas Machiavelli




Just like the many great writers in History before him, Schiller has fully encompassed his destiny, so conscious of the historical role he was playing in shaping the future of the European states in the tumult of the XVIIIth Century.

Like many writers in Europe of this period, he would put a premium on education altogether of the citizens and the princes ruling them. In his time, the means to reach the largest number was theater and newspaper. He would very often advocate for the educative mission of theater .

What is a writer?

Anyone who is familiar with Schiller's writings would realize that in his works, he did reveal a lot more than the sheer trade secrets about the art of literature.

The writer aims at presenting all the seasons of the human heart to his readers. Love, hate, treason, compassion....he should know to exhibit in the most vivid manners in his works. The psychology of society, the laws of the country as well as Nature he should know to use as unavoidable parameters in his works. The mastery of all these subjects, should give the author his authority.

"The human being, we know, is neither exclusively material nor exclusively spiritual. "

(F. Schiller: On the aesthetic education of the human being. Letter #15)

The writer deals with words. With these words, he creates images and concepts which he translates clearly to his readers. Through this exercise of reading, he makes the readers accomplish, the reconciliation of the two sides of the human being (the body and the spirit) into a harmonious whole. This is an essential duty of the writer. With his works, he reconnects the mind of the reader, first, with his culture and his consciousness, but also, gives to his readers, the elements with which they can initiate actions.

The writer uplifts the spirit of a nation in times of national tragedy or crisis. However, he does not limit this relationship with the nation and the citizens to a mere work of morale improvement. In times of crisis, the writer still continues, with even more conviction, the long and arduous duty of public education. For that purpose, he only have his words and the force of his mind.

Should the citizens display lack of interest for the state, should they still show unrefined traits and passivity for the common cause, then one should see in this situation a deficient relationship of the citizens with their poets and writers.

"To educate the human being morally and to inflame the national feeling in the citizen; is, in truth, a very honorable mission for the poet. "

(F. Schiller: On the pathetic)

This work of education somehow, will always confront the writer with explaining the various issues related to morality, to politics, to the existential questions of a society, a nation. The writer, however, does not shone away from such duty: courage to talk about the most sensitive subjects is one major trait of a good writer.

"Give the world in which you are active a direction towards the good, and the peaceful regularity of time will give this impulse a further development."

(F. Schiller: On the aesthetic education of the human being, Letter #9)

This work of education becomes then a mission, for with time, the little gains of national education is always threatened by prejudices and misconceptions. The writer, in those instances must hold himself firmly onto his grounds, which according to Schiller, must always be the truthful judgment of people's real values, even if he admits, that "Truth is less capable to move the human heart than Illusion." (Letters about "Don Carlos")


"Live with your century, but be not its creature; lead your contemporaries, however, to what they need, not to what they praise."

(F. Schiller: On the aesthetic education of the human being, Letter #9)

 
Wolfgang Goethe Fredrick Schiller


The improvement of the national character is then a major part of the writer's duty. He spends a lot of time, observing the actions and reactions of people around him. He reports about the meanest and greatest acts of his fellows.

"Chase arbitrariness, frivolity, roughness from the amusements of your contemporaries, then you will also take away these traits, unnoticed, from their actions; and finally, remove them away from their dispositions."

(F. Schiller: On the aesthetic education of the human being. Letter #9)

And, always, the writer should know to warm the hearts of the human beings, make them happy so that they can discover again the child in themselves. The writer should be capable of providing joy to his readers, so that the best source for human relationships could be spread to the largest number. Joy allows people to discover or experience again the spirit of brotherhood.

"Any form of Art is devoted to joy, and there is not any higher and not any more serious duty than to rejoice the human beings."

(F. Schiller: On the use of the chorus in tragedy)

And finally, when the writer has given his best in his works, when people have reacted to his works in whatever expected or unexpected manner, then he should also stand with pride before his judge:

"The public is everything to me, the object of my study, my sovereign and my confident. To the public alone I belong, from now on. Only before its tribunal and not any other I will stand. Only its tribunal I will fear and will honor."

(F. Schiller: The announcement in the “Rhineland Thalia”)


J. Marc Rakoto-Lahy


Frederick Schiller The essential in 200 quotes
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004IASG0Y
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004IASG0Y

- Frederick Schiller The essays on Aesthetics Volume I
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004I6D6WQ
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004I6D6WQ