Variations on Goethe

No power and no time can destroy
what is achieved in time
and ripens as fruit for eternity.

V. Berlin, December 2, 1909

The spirit world remains closed to you only
if you do not recognize within yourself
the spirit that shines in your soul
and should become your guiding light
in the depths of the world and on the heights of the world!

For V. Berlin, December 15, 1910
Notepad

Whoever wants to recognize and understand what is alive,
Seek to find the light of the spirit in the essence of things;
Then he will have the pieces in his hand,
And he will never again misjudge
The truth of things in the spiritual bond.

V. Berlin, November 16, 1911

Mysterious on the bright day of the present,
History does not allow itself to be robbed of its veil.
And what it may not reveal to your spirit,
You do not force it out, not from parchments
Nor from the signs inscribed there
In ore, in clay, and in stone.

V Berlin, December 14, 1911

From the power that binds all beings,
The person who overcomes himself is freed,
And who in this overcoming
Finds himself in truth,
Just as all humanity can find itself in Christ
In truth.

V. Berlin, January 25, 1912

Were existence not filled with sunshine
How could eyes blossom for beings
If not for the spirit's essence veiled in the universe
What would have given humans spiritual life?

Notepad, November 1912

If the world were not gifted with the sun,
How could eyes blossom for beings?
If existence were not God's revelation,
How would humans come to fulfill God?

For V. Berlin, November 21, 1912
Notepad

If the world were not gifted with the sun
How could eyes blossom for beings
If existence were not a revelation of the spirit
How would people attain spiritual fulfillment?

For V. Vienna, January 20, 1913
Notebook

Hostile events may occur
But you remain calm, remain cheerful
And even if they deny the spirit
Do not ponder further
And just agree with them
Their spirit is simply in a bad state.

For V. Berlin, December 12, 1912
Notebook

Sphere of Truth and Wisdom

You who shine in the head from a circle of light
Now grasp it in the manner of pure spirits
Dampen the confused delusions of his brain
Untangle the doubt of burning, anxious striving
Guide his inner self from the wrong path.
Four are the goals of daily experience
Now, without timidity, lead him there.
First strive toward the face filled with light,
Then hold fast to the spirit's ring of power
Soon the wingless mind will be strengthened,
He can complete the day liberated.
Fulfill the truest duty of the spirits
Carry him through the holy light.

Moral sphere

You who radiate this head with strength of action
Soon prove yourselves in the right work of the world
Boldly slay the affliction of absurdity
Refine the dark force of lustful desire
Carry his essence away to spiritual doom.
Four are the paths of human addiction
Snatch away the sickly confinement
Defeat the moaning of sensual fire
Enlighten what dies in lust
Inspired, you will hear echoing back
What power woos for eternity.
Try the striving of worldly work
Awaken it to gracious life.

V. Dornach, August 6, 1916

It is a great experience
To rise to the spirit of the times
To hear what the true sage speaks
Only by striving can we reach the light.

August 28, 1916
On a colored sketch by Hilde Pollak

It is a great experience
To rise to the spirit of the times
To hear what the true sage says:
Only by striving can we reach the light.

October 26, 1916 Dr. Rudolf Steiner
In the guest book of the Rietmann family

What more can a person gain in life
Than for God-Nature to reveal itself to him,
How it lets matter melt away in the spirit,
And how in matter the spirit experiences itself.

V. Berlin, March 15, 1917

It is a great horror
To put oneself in such souls.
How greedily they touch matter
And rush past the spirit.

V. Berlin, March 17, 1917

It is a great horror
To put oneself in such souls
To see how fearfully they remain in matter
And anxiously avoid all spirit.

Draft