14. The Development of the German Soul

If we now look at the way in which the soul of the nation can be recognized in the human being as a whole from the spiritual-scientific point of view, that is to say, if we approach the matter with the knowledge that I have often presented here as a spiritual-scientific method, we find that the individual national souls differ considerably in character. Now, of course, when speaking of the soul of a nation, it must be borne in mind that, when we use spiritual scientific concepts, we have something flexible and pliable, I would say in color effects, while we have firm contours in everything that is in the physical world. So, of course, it is very easy to object to what I am about to say. But if we had a few days instead of an hour or an hour and a half, we could discuss all these objections here. Of course, it is not at all a matter of criticizing any national soul, of presenting any national soul as if it had a different value from any other national soul, but of objective characteristics. What I am about to say about the individual national souls does not imply that one is of greater or less value than another, but is considered objectively.