{"corpus":"steiner","locus":"GA 68c/1909-12-06/p015-p016","extent":"range","passage_number":15,"through":16,"paragraph_count":2,"first_locus":"GA 68c/1909-12-06/p015","last_locus":"GA 68c/1909-12-06/p016","lang":"en","edition":"English","edition_basis":null,"is_original":false,"is_default_edition":true,"title":"XXXI. The Mission of Truth","date":"1909-12-06","location":null,"alignment_confidence":"high","alignment_reason":"beads:identity","two_voice_volume":false,"translation_credit":{"scope":"unit","status":"established","translator":"Steiner Online Library","identified_edition":"SOL2024","book_title":"Goethe and the Present","publisher":"Steiner Online Library","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA068c/English/SOL2024/19091206p01.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line","publisher_note":"The publisher is inferred from the edition code in this lecture's source URL, not stated by the source page. The translator IS verified for this lecture: its own source names the translator (evidence: the lecture's page, rsarchive's lecture list, or the cover of the book it was published in), and that page's text was matched against this unit (see match_score and source_url). Cite the translator with confidence; attribute the publisher only as probable."},"edition_coverage":{"de":["original"],"en":["English"]},"record":{"record_type":"unknown","scope":"volume","note":"How this text was taken down (shorthand transcript, listeners' notes or manuscript) is not on record here. 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These are the simplest arithmetical truths. Once we have decided for ourselves that three times three is nine and not ten, then this decision, made in the innermost sanctuary of our ego, is enough to know that this is true. And even if millions of people were to say that three times three is ten, we would still decide for three times three is nine. This is valid for mathematical truths because they are clear and, so to speak, present themselves to us directly in their simplicity. Therefore, when we overcome this simplicity through the passions that assert themselves in the sentient soul, by the I working its way up into the rational soul, it must overcome the other affects in the same way as it overcomes anger. For only by casting out the instincts, desires, drives and passions that are in the soul can what a person experiences in the soul become truth. Where people disagree about the truth, where not everyone finds the same truths in their soul, it is precisely the urges, the desires, the passions that prevent them, so to speak, from truly seeing the circumstances of the truth transparently and brightly and clearly. The passions cannot have a say in simple mathematical truths. If, for example, passions were to arise regarding the transparency of mathematical truths, then many a housewife would certainly desire that if she takes three times three marks to market, it would make ten marks; for the passions speak in favor of this, but the simplicity and transparency of the mathematical truths do not allow the passions and desires to arise. In this case – in any matter at all, where we have managed to silence the passions and desires, we also clearly see the circumstances of the truth. In all the things in which we have not yet succeeded in silencing the passions and desires, we are not yet capable of deciding on the truth in earnest. But when we have succeeded in deciding on a truth, then the ego is in its inmost being the judge of the truth. Thus, the ego must feel itself in its power when it decides on the truth, when it acquires truth.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":427,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/68c/1909-12-06/p015","witness_quality":{"translator":{"scope":"unit","status":"recorded","translator":"Steiner Online Library","identified_edition":"SOL2024","book_title":"Goethe and the Present","publisher":"Steiner Online Library","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA068c/English/SOL2024/19091206p01.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line","publisher_note":"The publisher is inferred from the edition code in this lecture's source URL, not stated by the source page. The translator IS verified for this lecture: its own source names the translator (evidence: the lecture's page, rsarchive's lecture list, or the cover of the book it was published in), and that page's text was matched against this unit (see match_score and source_url). Cite the translator with confidence; attribute the publisher only as probable."},"entity_parity":{"status":"ok","checked_against":["GA 68c/1909-12-06/p015"],"missing_from_translation":[],"present_only_in_translation":[],"bead_confidence":"high","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."}},{"passage_number":16,"locus":"GA 68c/1909-12-06/p016","text":"And again: once we have acquired the truth about something, we may say: this truth, although acquired in the most personal way, is the most impersonal of all; for we can find the same truth in all souls. When we have found a truth, it will take on the same form in millions of people who have also found it. Thus we will be able to communicate with the whole world about the truth. Thus truth is the most personal and thus it is the most impersonal. It leads most deeply into us, because there it must be decided, and it leads out again, because it applies independently of our arbitrariness. Truth is therefore the element in the life of the soul that has the most important mission in relation to this life of the soul. On the one hand, it educates the self to independence – for the self is the judge of truth – and on the other hand, it educates the self to selflessness, in that truth brings together this self with everything in our environment where truth is to be spoken at all. The two sides of the double-edged sword are best educated by the truth, and so the ego becomes strong to be led up from the surging activity of the sentient soul, where it still broods dull; so it becomes strong enough to be led up into the soul of mind or emotion, and at the same time it is prepared to be led up into the consciousness soul, where it comes out again to grasp the environment, to grasp the world selflessly. Thus we have characterized truth as the most important and essential element in the development of the I, in the work of the I on the three soul-members, the sentient soul, the mind or emotional soul, and the consciousness soul. This is why truth is such a powerful educator of the ego, because it works on both sides. We just have to take it seriously. Only those who truly strive for the truth in their own selves, and only strive for the truth, who allow only the truth to determine their inner world of ideas, may hope that this truth will fulfill this implied mission for them. A great English poet rightly says of truth, hinting at its brittleness, hinting at the high demands it makes of us: “To him who prefers anything to truth, this goddess does not surrender.” Those who place their Christianity above truth will soon realize that they are placing their particular denomination above Christianity. But those who place their particular denomination above Christianity will soon realize that they are placing their sect above their denomination. And those who place their sect above their denomination will soon realize that they are placing their personal whims above even the teachings of their sect. So says the poet Coleridge. Truth reveals itself only to him who is in turn ready to surrender himself entirely to it. But now we meet this truth within ourselves in a twofold form. The I asserts its two sides, which we have characterized, quite well in relation to this truth. If we want to characterize these two sides of the I, then we must present to our soul the way in which truth presents itself to the I from the world.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":557,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/en/ga/68c/1909-12-06/p016","witness_quality":{"translator":{"scope":"unit","status":"recorded","translator":"Steiner Online Library","identified_edition":"SOL2024","book_title":"Goethe and the Present","publisher":"Steiner Online Library","publisher_inferred":true,"match_score":1.0,"source_url":"https://www.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA068c/English/SOL2024/19091206p01.html","evidence":"lecture_page_line","publisher_note":"The publisher is inferred from the edition code in this lecture's source URL, not stated by the source page. The translator IS verified for this lecture: its own source names the translator (evidence: the lecture's page, rsarchive's lecture list, or the cover of the book it was published in), and that page's text was matched against this unit (see match_score and source_url). Cite the translator with confidence; attribute the publisher only as probable."},"entity_parity":{"status":"discrepancy","checked_against":["GA 68c/1909-12-06/p016"],"missing_from_translation":[],"present_only_in_translation":["Christ"],"bead_confidence":"high","bead_length_ratio":1.06,"likely_cause":"unresolved","note":"NAME MISMATCH between this English passage and its German counterpart. A name the German carries is absent here (or a name appears here that the German does not carry). 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Es sind das die einfachsten rechnerischen Wahrheiten. Haben wir einmal bei uns selber entschieden, dass dreimal drei neun ist und nicht zehn, dann genügt diese im innersten Allerheiligsten unseres Ichs gefällte Entscheidung, um zu wissen, dass das wahr ist. Und wenn Millionen von Menschen sagen würden: Dreimal drei ist zehn, wir würden uns unbedingt für dreimal drei ist neun entscheiden. Das ist für die rechnerischen, für die mathematischen Wahrheiten deshalb gültig, weil sie übersichtlich sind, weil sie sozusagen in ihrer Einfachheit sich uns unmittelbar darbieten. Wenn wir daher durch diese Einfachheit dasjenige überwinden, was in der Empfindungsseele sich geltend macht als Leidenschaft, indem sich das Ich heraufarbeitet in die Verstandesseele, muss es geradeso, wie es den Zorn überwindet, überwinden die anderen Affekte. Denn nur dadurch wird das, was der Mensch in der Seele erlebt, zur Wahrheit, dass alles, was an Instinkten, Begierden, Trieben, Leidenschaften in der Seele ist, hinausgeworfen wird. Da, wo die Menschen nicht übereinstimmen in Bezug auf die Wahrheit, wo nicht ein jeder in seiner Seele dieselben Wahrheiten findet, da sind es eben die Triebe, die Begierden, die Leidenschaften, welche ihn sozusagen hindern, wirklich durchsichtig und hell und klar die Verhältnisse der Wahrheit zu schauen. Bei den einfachen rechnerischen Wahrheiten können die Leidenschaften nicht mitsprechen. Würden zum Beispiel die Leidenschaften aufkommen gegenüber der Durchsichtigkeit der rechnerischen Wahrheiten, dann würde gewiss manche Hausfrau begehren, dass, wenn sie dreimal drei Mark zum Markte bringt, das zehn Mark machen würde; denn die Leidenschaften sprechen dafür, aber die Einfachheit und Durchsichtigkeit der rechnerischen Wahrheiten lässt die Leidenschaften, die Begierden nicht aufkommen. In diesem Falle — in einer jeglichen Sache überhaupt, wo wir es dahin gebracht haben, die Leidenschaften und Begierden zum Schweigen zu bringen, da durchschauen wir auch klar die Verhältnisse der Wahrheit. Bei alldem, wo wir es noch nicht dahin gebracht haben, dass die Leidenschaften und Begierden schweigen, sind wir noch nicht imstande, über die Wahrheit im Ernst zu entscheiden. Haben wir es aber dahin gebracht, über eine Wahrheit zu entscheiden, dann ist das Ich in seinem Innersten der Richter über die Wahrheit. Also, das Ich muss sich fühlen in seiner Kraft, indem es über die Wahrheit entscheidet, indem es sich Wahrheit erwirbt.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":416,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/68c/1909-12-06/p015"},{"locus":"GA 68c/1909-12-06/p016","passage_number":16,"text":"Und wiederum: Haben wir die Wahrheit über eine Sache erworben, dann dürfen wir sagen: Diese Wahrheit ist, trotzdem sie auf die persönlichste Art erworben ist, das Allerunpersönlichste; denn dieselbe Wahrheit können wir in allen Seelen finden. Wenn wir eine Wahrheit gefunden haben, wird sie bei Millionen Menschen, die sie auch gefunden haben, dieselbe Gestalt zeigen. Daher werden wir uns über die Wahrheit mit der ganzen Umwelt verständigen können. So ist die Wahrheit das Persönlichste und so ist sie das Unpersönlichste. Sie führt am tiefsten in uns hinein, weil sie da entschieden werden muss, und sie führt wiederum hinaus, weil sie unabhängig von unserer Willkür gilt. Daher ist die Wahrheit dasjenige Element im Seelenleben, das die wichtigste Mission in Bezug auf dieses Seelenleben hat, das auf der einen Seite zur Selbstständigkeit das Ich erzieht — denn das Ich ist der Richter über die Wahrheit — und auf der anderen Seite zur Selbstlosigkeit, indem die Wahrheit dieses Ich zusammenführt mit all demjenigen, was in unserer Umgebung ist, wo überhaupt von Wahrheit gesprochen werden soll. Die beiden Seiten des zweischneidigen Schwertes, sie werden durch die Wahrheit am besten erzogen, und so wird das Ich kräftig, um heraufgeführt zu werden aus dem wogenden Getriebe der Empfindungsseele, wo es noch dumpf brütet; so wird es kräftig, um heraufgeführt zu werden in die Verstandes- oder Gemütsseele, und so wird es zu gleicher Zeit vorbereitet, um hinaufgeführt zu werden in die Bewusstseinsseele, wo es wiederum hinauskommt zum Ergreifen der Umwelt, zur selbstlosen Erfassung der Welt. Damit haben wir die Wahrheit charakterisiert als das wichtigste und das wesentlichste Element bei der Entwicklung des Ichs, bei der Arbeit des Ichs an den drei Seelengliedern, der Empfindungsseele, der Verstandes- oder Gemütsseele und der Bewusstseinsseele. Deshalb ist die Wahrheit eine so gewaltige Erzieherin des Ichs, weil sie nach beiden Seiten hin wirkt. Nur müssen wir es wirklich ernst mit ihr nehmen. Nur derjenige, der in seinem Ich wirklich nach der Wahrheit strebt, und nur nach der Wahrheit strebt, der wirklich nur entscheiden lässt in sich selber, in seiner Vorstellungswelt nach Maßgabe der Wahrheit, der darf hoffen, dass diese Wahrheit für ihn selber diese angedeutete Mission erfüllt. Mit Recht sagt ein großer englischer Dichter von der Wahrheit, andeutend ihre Sprödigkeit, andeutend die hohen Forderungen, die sie an uns stellt: [Demjenigen], der der Wahrheit etwas vorzieht, dem ergibt sich diese Göttin nicht. Wer sein Christentum stellt über die Wahrheit, wird bald bemerken, dass er seine besondere Konfession über das Christentum stellt. Wer aber seine besondere Konfession über das Christentum stellt, wird bald bemerken, dass er seine Sekte über die Konfession stellt. Und wer seine Sekte über die Konfession stellt, wird bald bemerken, dass er seine persönliche Willkür auch über das Bekenntnis seiner Sekte stellt. So sagt der Dichter Coleridge. Die Wahrheit ergibt sich nur demjenigen, der wiederum bereit ist, sich ihr ganz hinzugeben. Nun aber treffen wir diese Wahrheit in uns selber in einer doppelten Gestalt. Das Ich macht seine zwei Seiten, die wir charakterisiert haben, gar wohl geltend gegenüber dieser Wahrheit. Wenn wir diese zwei Seiten des Ichs charakterisieren wollen, dann müssen wir dasjenige, wie sich die Wahrheit aus der Welt dem Ich darbietet, vor unsere Seele hinstellen.","text_trust":"verbatim","quote_safe":true,"word_count":526,"url":"https://anthroposophy.ai/v1/steiner/de/ga/68c/1909-12-06/p016"}],"beads":[{"from":[15],"to":[15],"confidence":"high","pairing_state":"verified"},{"from":[16],"to":[16],"confidence":"high","pairing_state":"verified"}],"note":"Paired by the paragraph aligner; each language numbers its own paragraphs. A bead at either end of the span can carry text beyond it (the `from` numbers show what each bead covers)."}}