39. Maximilian Harden “Apostata”

For decades, our educated people were in love with a brittle beauty. She had serious features, a somewhat pale complexion, dark hair, was without fullness; and only rarely was there anything like passion to be seen in her face. No one could really warm to her presence. Nor did people always like to be with her. Only at the big markets, where public opinion was offered for sale, did people appear proudly at her side. If you wanted to spend a leisurely hour, if you lived only for yourself and your immediate surroundings and didn't need to add that tone to your words that made them seem suggestive to the crowd, then you got rid of your companion. But they also acted grandly and duly boasted of their chaste relationship.

The woman is called "loyalty to principle".

We have left behind us a time that has driven the worship of "principle" to the point of disgust. Original feelings and individual judgment counted for nothing; life was to be lived by a few principles that were repeatedly put forward and by which everything was judged. People counted for little, the principles they swore by counted for everything. People didn't care about the individual, but they did care about whether they were liberal or conservative, national or cosmopolitan, materialistic or idealistic.

There are signs that things are getting better. There are still plenty of latecomers to be seen, latecomers who are still singing the old song. But you can see how the understanding of the individual is on the increase. Nothing can prove this more clearly than the success of Maximilian Harden's two "Apostata" volumes. They contain the essays that Harden has published in recent years in various German journals on contemporary events and contemporaries. People were always looking for these articles in the places where they could hope to find them. People were curious to know what Harden had to say about an event, because they appreciated the writer's unique personality. And you never felt disappointed, because Harden knew something to say that no one else would have thought of. And another thing: Harden is not satisfied with simply stating his opinion. He knows that although food is nourishing without the addition of spices, it tastes better with them. Harden is distinguished enough to present his opinions only in such a guise that not only the content but also the cover is of interest. We like it better when someone stimulates us than when he wants to convince us. I don't like them who write thin and thick books to convince the people around them. I find that kind of thing simply tactless. It always presupposes stupid readers who are supposed to be instructed. Most of our fellow writers don't want to talk to us about their subject matter, they want us to be instructed by them. It is only because this attitude is unfortunately so widespread that so much is written which the Graces do not even want to look at with a contemptuous sideways glance. We like reading Harden so much because he has not a trace of such an attitude. Reading his writings makes you feel like a human being. And that's not something you're used to with authors. He doesn't impose his convictions on anyone, but he expresses his opinion; and that will interest others, even if they don't share it. Indeed, it will be much more useful to him than the one he can immediately subscribe to in full. This will usually only be the case with the most trivial things. The unconscious respect that Harden has for his reader characterizes him as the type of a distinguished writer. As such, however, there is another thing that is peculiar to him. This is the boldness of his judgment and the self-confident way in which he presents himself to the world. Harden's judgment is never tinged with that leaden timidity which dares to express itself only "modestly" or "with reservation" or "intemperately", but is firm, sharp, unreserved. The mind of a right person does not react indeterminately, vaguely, unclearly to anything that comes to him, but fiercely, sharply. He who does not put this vehemence and sharpness into the expression of his views does not deserve that his fellow men should be interested in him. He remains uninteresting to us. For he lacks that high sense of truth which is the characteristic of a noble man. He who is true always speaks more or less paradoxically. Nor can we demand of any of our sayings that they be absolutely true, for the whole truth will probably only come to light by considering an infinite number of one-sidednesses in their context. He who is afraid to say something paradoxical, and therefore weakens the points of his statements as much as possible, will produce nothing but more or less bland, banal talk. Harden's assertions are now as pointed as possible. In any case, he does not use a file to blunt the sharp points, but probably a very sharp instrument to sharpen what you can still run your finger over without cutting yourself. We are dealing with a writer who we often agree with enthusiastically, and who often annoys us beyond measure. But writers are also the most miserable creatures that we should never get angry with. The only exception, of course, is when you are merely annoyed by their stupidity.

The article that opens the second collection of the "Apostata" shows how fine Harden's opinion is. It is about Harden's visit to Prince Bismarck, which took place a few weeks ago. We get a picture of the overwhelming individuality of this monumental personality that we could not wish for better. This is the true art of characterization: to apply precisely those lines in a picture that best reflect the individuality portrayed. And Harden is a master of this. Incidentally, other passages in his "Apostata" volumes also show how he knows how to appreciate the great chancellor. Harden knows that man acts according to individual principles and the Philistine according to principles. And his hatred of all philistinism is not slight. Eugen Richter comes off badly. Worst of all in the final article of the second volume: "Ententeich". How could Harden, the idolizer of the individual, hate anyone who wants to erect a tyranny of abstract principles in the place of human tyranny? That Richter could never understand that everything useful must come from the will of the personality, and that one can never come to grips with reality with general principles, made him the enemy of the greatest statesman, whom he should otherwise have regarded as the greatest happiness to stand opposite as a political comrade-in-arms. Bismatck, on the other hand, could justifiably only look with resentment at a man who had no feeling for reality, but who repeatedly and repeatedly came out with "liberal principles".

Harden's understanding of the individual also makes him a subtle psychologist. All those who rebel and claim to want to look at everything psychologically could learn a lot from Harden. Just read his article on Guy de Maupassant. Our youngest Germans also want to write psychological essays, but they don't really work because they are full of dogmas and arbitrary assumptions. And the real cannot be dictated, it can only be observed. No one can judge an artist if he approaches the latter with artistic demands. Only those who are under the impression of full reality, without prejudice, are able to see purely. But very few people can think of anything when they look at an individual piece of reality without prejudice. They have a recipe in their pocket, and their judgment consists in saying whether reality agrees with their recipe or not. But that is not Harden's way. His way of looking at things is without a recipe, entirely subjective, from case to case. Of course, the recipe people have it easier. They don't always have to make a new effort to come to a judgment.

Rarely will a judgment as subjective as Harden's coincide with the state or social norm. What everyone says should not actually be written down. But it is not always entirely safe to defy the "norm", and the accusations of all kinds that have rained down on Harden's innocent head over the past year have officially testified to the fact that something is stirring that could cause too much excitement among the general public.

Where everyone was complaining about the shamefulness of a woman, Harden was looking for deeper social forces; and what he contributed to the Prager-Schweitzer trial should be recommended to the attention of wider circles for the assessment of similar incidents.

I do not ask a writer whether he has "right" or "wrong" principles. For I know how little there is in such "rightness" or "wrongness"; but I ask whether he is a whole man, a right man, who, even if he errs, must still be heeded. What many can tell me, I do not listen to, for I can usually tell myself; but what only a few can tell me, that is what I ask for. Many are happy when they only hear or read what is quite clear to them. Others say to such things: lost time. The latter will reach for Harden's "Apostata" volumes.