{"corpus":"steiner","locus":"GA 57/1909-02-18/p003","lang":"en","edition":"English","edition_basis":null,"is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"text":"When discussing the practical significance of the invisible, especially the invisible in human nature, perhaps a comparison can illustrate what is meant. Practical people are those who direct their gaze and their perception toward the supersensible perception of existence, while impractical people are those who want to remain stuck with the merely external, the merely physical. Is the person who has before them a horseshoe-shaped piece of iron that has been made into a magnet, and who then uses this thing for whatever purpose it seems useful for based on its outward appearance, truly a practical person? Or is such a person not to be called impractical in the true sense of the word, and practical only the one who says to himself: In this piece of iron there is something that makes it possible for me to use it in a much higher, nobler way than mere sensory perception would suggest. — Of course, this is only a comparison, for we must not compare the higher powers we are discussing today with any natural force. But only those who seek out the inner powers of things and can use things according to their true values are practical. In contrast to those who are guided by a certain practical sense, one could cite J. G. Fichte's words on the practical significance of ideals. Fichte attempted to explain the destiny of humankind in terms of high ideals. In the introduction to his lectures on “The Vocation of the Scholar,” he refrains from the outset from speaking as if someone who speaks from such high idealistic standpoints did not know what objections could be raised against them, namely that ideals cannot be directly represented in practical life. Those who establish these ideals know this perhaps better than their opponents. \"We only claim that reality must be judged according to them and modified by those who feel the strength to do so. Even if they cannot convince themselves of this, they lose very little in the process, since they are what they are; and humanity loses nothing in the process. It merely becomes clear that they alone are not counted on in the plan for the ennoblement of humanity. Humanity will undoubtedly continue on its path; may benevolent nature rule over them and grant them rain and sunshine at the right time, wholesome food and undisturbed circulation of juices, and at the same time – wise thoughts!\"","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"title":"The Invisible Elements of Human Nature and Practical Life","site_heading":null,"date":"1909-02-18","location":null,"word_count":404,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/57/1909-02-18/p003","alignment_confidence":"medium","alignment_reason":"beads:structural_identity","two_voice_volume":false,"translation_credit":{"scope":"unit","status":"established","translator":"Steiner Online Library","identified_edition":"eLib2014","book_title":"Where and How Does One Find the Spirit?","publisher":null,"publisher_inferred":false,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA057/English/eLib2014/19090218p01.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line"},"edition_coverage":{"de":["original"],"en":["English"]},"available_versions":[{"lang":"de","edition":"original","edition_basis":null,"is_original":true,"is_default_edition":true,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/57/1909-02-18/p003"},{"lang":"en","edition":"English","edition_basis":null,"is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/57/1909-02-18/p003","paragraph_aligned":true}],"record":{"record_type":"unknown","scope":"volume","note":"How this text was taken down (shorthand transcript, listeners' notes or manuscript) is not on record here. Unknown is not an assurance of a stenogram: check the edition's own notes before resting an argument on one word.","evidence":null,"evidence_translation":null,"evidence_source":null},"german_anchor":{"de_prefix":"1909-02-18","de_passages":[{"locus":"GA 57/1909-02-18/p003","url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/57/1909-02-18/p003"}],"bead_confidence":"medium","pairing_state":"verified","verified":true,"evidence":["length","meaning","anchors","audit"],"length_check":{"de_words":379,"en_words":404,"ratio":1.07,"partial":false},"correspondence":"established","note":"English passage numbering is edition-relative, so the same number need not name the same paragraph in the German. The German original passage(s) above are the edition-invariant anchor — fetch them (lang='de') to verify wording before quoting across editions."},"paired_german":{"status":"paired","german":[{"locus":"GA 57/1909-02-18/p003","passage_number":3,"text":"Wenn von der praktischen Bedeutung des Unsichtbaren, besonders des Unsichtbaren in des Menschen eigenem Wesen die Rede sein soll, so darf vielleicht durch einen Vergleich veranschaulicht werden, was gemeint ist. Praktisch sind diejenigen Menschen zu nennen, welche ihren Blick, ihre Anschauung auf die übersinnliche Anschauung des Daseins lenken, und unpraktisch diejenigen, die beim bloß Äußerlichen stehenbleiben wollen, beim bloßen Physischen. Ist der eigentlich der wahre Praktiker, der vor sich liegen hat ein zu einem Magneten zugerichtetes, hufeisenförmiges Eisen,und der dann dieses Ding verwendet zu irgend etwas, wozu es ihm brauchbar erscheint nach dem äußeren Augenschein? Oder ist ein solcher Mensch nicht im wahren Sinn des Wortes unpraktisch zu nennen, und praktisch allein der, der sich sagt: In diesem Stück Eisen ruht etwas, was mir eine viel höhere, edlere Anwendung möglich macht, als der bloße Sinnenschein vermuten läßt. — Das ist freilich nur ein Vergleich, denn wir dürfen die höheren Kräfte, von denen heute die Rede sein soll, nicht mit irgendeiner Naturkraft vergleichen. Aber praktisch ist nur der, welcher die inneren Kräfte aus den Dingen heraussucht und die Dinge nach ihren wahren Werten gebrauchen kann. Gegenüber denen, die von einem gewissen praktischen Sinne sich leiten lassen, könnte man J. G. Fichtes Wort von der praktischen Bedeutung der Ideale anführen. Fichte versuchte, die Bestimmung des Menschen an hohen Idealen zu erläutern. In der Einleitung zu den Vorlesungen über «Die Bestimmung des Gelehrten» verwahrt er sich von vornherein dagegen, als ob jemand, der von solchen hohen idealistischen Standpunkten aus spricht, nicht wüßte, was dagegen eingewandt werden kann, nämlich, daß Ideale nicht unmittelbar im praktischen Leben dargestellt werden können. Das wissen die, welche diese Ideale aufstellen, vielleicht besser als die Gegner. «Wir behaupten nur, daß nach ihnen die Wirklichkeit beurteilt, und von denen, die dazu Kraft in sich fühlen, modifiziert werden müsse. Gesetzt, sie könnten auch davon sich nicht überzeugen, so verlieren sie dabei, nachdem sie einmal sind, was sie sind, sehr wenig; und die Menschheit verliert nichts dabei. Es wird dadurch bloß das klar, daß nur auf sie nicht im Plane der Veredlung der Menschheit gerechnet ist. Diese wird ihren Weg ohne Zweifel fortsetzen; über jene wolle die gütige Natur walten und ihnen zu rechter Zeit Regen und Sonnenschein, zuträgliche Nahrung und ungestörter Umlauf der Säfte und dabei - kluge Gedanken verleihen!»","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":379,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/57/1909-02-18/p003"}],"english":["GA 57/1909-02-18/p003"],"method":"structural_identity","confidence":"medium","correspondence":"unverified","length_check":{"de_words":379,"en_words":404,"ratio":1.07,"partial":false},"pairing_state":"verified","verified":true,"evidence":["length","meaning","anchors","audit"]},"witness_completeness":{"ratio":1.03,"band":"comparable","note":null,"word_count":4098,"original_word_count":3971,"may_be_abridged":false},"witness_quality":{"translator":{"scope":"unit","status":"recorded","translator":"Steiner Online Library","identified_edition":"eLib2014","book_title":"Where and How Does One Find the Spirit?","publisher":null,"publisher_inferred":false,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA057/English/eLib2014/19090218p01.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line"},"entity_parity":{"status":"ok","checked_against":["GA 57/1909-02-18/p003"],"missing_from_translation":[],"present_only_in_translation":[],"bead_confidence":"medium","note":"Every load-bearing name in the German counterpart appears in this English passage. That is a check on NAMES only: a translation can keep every name and still reverse who acts on whom, change a number, or soften a claim. Read the German for anything you intend to rest an argument on."},"note":"quote_safe certifies the bytes of this text. This block is about the translation as a WITNESS: who made it, and whether it carries the same names as the original. See witness_completeness for how much of the original this witness holds."}}