“The Germans really are a strange lot. They make life unnecessarily difficult for themselves by looking for deep thoughts and ideas everywhere and putting them into everything. Just have the courage to give yourself up to first impressions . . . Don’t think all the time that everything must be pointless if it lacks an abstract thought or idea.” — Goethe
Taking Goethe’s Advice
7 Responses to Taking Goethe’s Advice
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German_reader says:
I’m German and I don’t see any looking for deep thoughts or profound ideas in Germany. Rather the opposite: Germany nowadays seems intellectually and culturally stagnant and has been so for decades, something which is often attributed to the fact that much of its intellectual elite was killed or exiled during the Third Reich (though I’m not sure how plausible this explanation really is).
The Dschinghis Khan video in your post illustrates this rather nicely – I’m afraid much of German culture (whatever that may mean) today is of the same level… -
BradleyP says:
One of my favorite things is to google for German poetry–I don’t understand much German at all–then read it in the most comically impassioned, over-the-top fashion imaginable without regard to meaning. It makes a great party game after having a few Warsteiners. Shoot, practicing all by one’s self is nearly as fun. Goethe would be proud. Maybe such a thing could be a running video feature to complement the View from One’s Table.
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TWylite says:
This video, along with the classic “Trololo” video, explains everything you need to know about the Cold War and why communism had to fall.
P.S. I prefer my Khan with Chaka rather than Dschinghis. -
Among the Nightingales says:
Is that an Eliot reference in the lyrics? Much may depend on whether they are singing “Hoo ha” or “Hoo hah”. Bears further study … or maybe not.
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Jeremy says:
Speaking as an American of 3/4 German descent, I have to say that that quote from Goethe is spot on. It perfectly describes what has always seemed to set me and my family apart from most everyone else. It is both a blessing and a curse, but I am proud to be German.
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JonF says:
In Goethe’s day the Germans did have a reputation for airy-faerie poets, and for head-in-the-clouds philosophers (try reading Fichte sometime as he raves on endlessly about the “ich-ich” principle). Romanticism in the arts came out of Germany.
Hahaha! Thanks, Rod, for posting this link … the Eurovision Song Contest has produced its fair share of memorable, tacky “so bad they’re actually very good” songs. I clearly remember the catchy “Hu! Ha! Hu! Ha!” chorus from 1979.
MARCU$