Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 5.djvu/22

8 hardly sees the possibility of eminent men delighting themselves in such an interchange of nothing, or when it expresses the wish that such leaves might have remained unprinted. But we may suffer these few volumes always to stand along with so many others upon our book-shelves, if we have learned from them the fact, that even the most eminent man lives only by the day, and enjoys but a sorry entertainment when he throws himself too much back upon himself, and neglects to grasp into the fulness of the external world, where alone he can find nourishment for his growth, and at the same time a standard for its measurement.

The activity of these men was in its finest bloom, when we young folks also began to stir in our own circle; and with my younger friends, if not with older persons too, I was pretty much in the way of falling into this sort of mutual flattery, forbearance, raising and supporting. In my immediate sphere, whatever I produced could always be reckoned good. Ladies, friends, and patrons will not consider bad that which is undertaken and written out of affection for them. From such obligations at last arises the expression of an empty satisfaction with each other, in the phrases of which a character is easily lost if it is not from time to time steeled to higher excellence.

And thus I had the happiness to say, that, by means of an unexpected acquaintance, all the self-complacency, love of the looking-glass, vanity, pride, and haughtiness that might have been resting or working within me, were exposed to a very severe trial, which was unique in its kind, by no means in accordance with the time, and therefore so much the more searching and more sorely felt.

For the most important event, one that was to have the weightiest consequences for me, was my acquaintance with Herder, and the nearer connection with him which sprung from it. He accompanied the travels of