"Will Durant on Goethe: A Literary Luminary"

Embark on a literary voyage through the life and works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, one of the most celebrated figures in German literature, with the distinguished historian, Will Durant, as your guide. In this enlightening video, Durant delves into the multifaceted world of Goethe's creativity, his lasting influence on literature, and his enduring legacy.
some lectures on Goethe:
• Forgotten Thinkers: Go...
• Video

[@dyls2702]

The whole book is written beautifully but one page I remember being written so poetically by the time I got to the end of page i knew i had become a lifelong dedicated reader. Through my passion for rap music i was exposed to the joy of word play and led to books and the love of the written word Faust is a great example of the immense enjoyment that can be found in a good book. He conjured up the world with such skill that i remember feeling that world was lost to me forever and was heartbroken. I really must read it again.

[@boblee5556]

Faust is one of the greatest works of literature of all time. When I was a younger man I would fancy myself well written and read. This was eminently false. In college I had the great fortune to study Literature under the tutelage of the best professor in the Bay Area, and because of our nation's eminence and prosperity, one of the best english professors of all time. His favored attention to Goethe and careful prose still illuminates my petty existence. I do so miss the lectures on Faust, Dostoevsky, Homer, and Gibson. Thank you Rocky C for filling my hours with the light and joy of learning and of remembering wisdom lost.

[@AJ-xm4xc]

would you care to enlighten us about any of the subtleties learned whilst reading faust?

[@boblee5556]

@@AJ-xm4xc That there are no free lunches and people with money usually lack scruples...

[@hazelwray4184]

Pretentious twaddle: As a young man; in my younger years ... 'I would fancy myself well written'? 'eminently false'? - eminently refers to something positive; praiseworthy; distinguished. 'because of our nation's eminence and prosperity' - insufferable.

[@boblee5556]

@@hazelwray4184 late Middle English: from Latin eminent- ‘jutting, projecting’, from the verb eminere... Words have often a deeper meaning than the limited understanding of a dictionary to bind the mentality of men to a dispassionate definition. Language is a flowing and fractious thing, made by peasants then studied by scholars who claim to always know better that the words they collect like entomologists should be pinned to a board when they look so much the better in life.

[@hazelwray4184]

@@boblee5556 eminently false? (in retrospect) this was - positively; indubitably ...

[@bossman1944]

going through will durant's captivating recordings for a second time. thank you Rocky C

[@davemojarra4734]

Grover Gardner recording, actually.

[@georgieboi097]

I am Maori of New Zealand I am a descendant of Jon Von-Goethe grandson of Johann Wolfgang Goethe and in New Zealand the name Goethe was anglicised in english as Gotty and in maori Kati so there are two families that carry the Von-Goethe name in english and maori

[@ryanburdeaux]

are you a writer by chance?

[@theConquerersMama]

Very interesting

[@hazelwray4184]

@@ryanburdeaux bad syntax and no punctuation, yet you wonder if he's a writer.

[@ryanburdeaux]

@@hazelwray4184 it’s a comment on KZbin , there is room to be unprofessional

[@screenwatcherfindlay6027]

@@ryanburdeaux no

[@frankiebaby7]

I can't believe this is free. Appreciate it profoundly.

[@lola13802]

Thank you Rockyc. Always look forward to the new uploads.

[@j.davidrhoads4639]

I love this material! Excellent writer, excellent mind!

[@nodsloss6748]

"some committed suicide as the only fashionable thing to do" bahaha

[@mikecrum2740]

Really.

[@jwshepard6]

Proper description for me via philosophical reasoning is "self-delivery." Suicide ... ~1650s, after all the wranglings of Latin we have, "sui" = of oneself; "cidium" = a killing.

[@rballen420]

This narrator is the best one I’ve ever heard in my life

[@johndavis2399]

I had never known of Will Durant prior to your channel. How does one person become so omni-erudite in one life time? >< The English translations of Faust are of course daunting, but the "De Nature" at 32:00 minutes is simple yet most sublime. Thank you Rocky C!

[@johnndamascene]

I love how these always end with a mic drop that leaves a profoundness in the viewers mind.

[@randomtux1234]

among the best written, best researched, best expressed monologue ever

[@cynthiavaldes8651]

absolutely edifying..

[@praaht18]

Marvellous exposé of Goethes work.

[@rballen420]

So glad I stumbled upon this!!!

[@BigBunnyLove]

Fantastic!

[@marcoscastillojaen1888]

Ese visionario que se adelanto a su tiempo.

[@danelen]

Its simply astonishing how much amazing work came from Will and Arial. Thanks to Rocky C for doing this too. I am learning about so much fascinating history and historical figures I never knew because of these audio books.

[@user-ul4cn2vg8h]

Thx a lot Mr. R c

[@LunaLu-00]

"one is not happier by hairsbreadth by attaining the objects of his wishes"

[@tatanka16]

Ullpuhv

[@renzo6490]

But perhaps one must learn that lesson through experience.

[@LunaLu-00]

@@renzo6490 Yes, i agree!

[@hazelwray4184]

'by and by'

[@myemailaccount3046]

The great Goethe

[@Gorboduc]

2:40:50 - I'd say the first text of comparative anatomy was Edward Tyson's Homo Sylvestris (1699), comparing chimps with humans.

[@freddershredder]

Thank you man ~ btw there s something off about the audio quality in this particular upload.

[@galapagoensis]

Goethe my kind of man...

[@Perchumovic]

you're doing god's work. thank you.

[@alexdavinci9533]

That's Schopenhauer's pic? You're not worthy of it.

[@ooshababa962]

We're all doing God's work, consciously and unconsciously. Manipulated or wilfully.😇😇😇

[@TheGhostOperative]

rocking the snuggies since late 1700s.

[@cameronchurchill2749]

Such a wonderful writer and mind, and read so well, who is the reader??

[@Rico-Suave_]

Great video, thank you very much , note to self(nts) watched all of it 1:50:33

[@larryburgess4816]

I would like to find this in PDF format, but The story of Philosophy doesn't list it. Any ideas?

[@TheWhitehiker]

Never cold get into his poetry. Give me the English Romantics all the time.

[@4FYTfa8EjYHNXjChe8xs7xmC5pNEtz]

* gives you the English romantics all the time *

[@hazelwray4184]

'never cold'

[@TheWhitehiker]

@@hazelwray4184 thanks Hazel.

[@TheWhitehiker]

@@4FYTfa8EjYHNXjChe8xs7xmC5pNEtz Huh?

[@aksumit4217]

"He killed werther to give himself peace."

[@johnteaguefilm]

Anyone know the audiobook narrator? He also narrated Larry Niven’s Ringworld.

[@schaniotakis]

Who is the voice of these audiobooks?

[@speakstruth1543]

35:14 Nature

[@keithcollard3933]

Is there an " r" in this subject's name I don't know about?

[@shelleyharris165]

Funny stuff ☺️😎😇✌️♈☮️✝️💪🔔🙏🙌🌍. Cool though

[@virvisquevir3320]

Why does he pronounce his name as "Gur-te"? It's pronounced "Geu-te", the "eu" being very short.

[@martynblackburn1977]

The Americans introduce the R sound like Nietzsche is prounced Nee-tcher or like the word 'brother' has the R sound but not in the English pronounciation: bru-theu.

[@boblee5556]

​@@martynblackburn1977 wat u meen 'mericans don tak like tat, we a cultured natn' of well spoken fok.

[@davyroger3773]

@@boblee5556 darn damn tootin!

[@johnran6015]

I have a question, is this Will Durant reading?

[@LarsLiveLaughLove]

No, I think Rocky C.

[@aliveli-hq6zk]

Note the source mate. Which book of Durant? Always write down the source.

[@tarnopol]

I'm guessing it's from Rousseau and Revolution (1967). Part of The Story of Civilization: there's a section on Goethe in there. But not sure; never read it.

[@lalaskustabaskus9026]

"It truly sickens me in my innermost to be daily confronted with the sobering reality that I share a planet with simple pygmies, instead of giants like Goethe and Schiller. Even Einstein was a mental dwarf by comparison." -- Lalaskus Tabaskus von Damascus

[@geico1975]

I think I understand, but wouldn't it be more prudent to compare "giants" of the same time and study?

[@boblee5556]

Self absorption and judgement of others is usually a sign of ignorance and no marker of learning. To judge is to be human, but to examine is wisdom. ~some dude.

[@user-ul4cn2vg8h]

Well...Einstein is Einstien. The rest of your comment is agreeable.

[@bingo4519]

Bruh did you quote yourself

[@1shpendi]

@@bingo4519lol

[@dennischanay7781]

What book is this from? Thanks!

[@DurantandFriends]

I am not sure, I would start with The History of Philosophy.

[@siddharthamishra1999]

Story of civilization, Volume X: Rousseau and Revolution

[@humaneskits9318]

34:48

[@pauoliver]

Who is the narrator? Is it will Durant himself?

[@Hermetic_]

Grover Gardner

[@davyroger3773]

2:37:02 Sounds like Goethe was coming extremly close to Darwin's theory of evolution

[@dpavlovsky]

Spengler would disagree.

[@11Kralle]

It is always interesting to hear about Faust II - Will Durant 'nailed' it: one needs a life of 80 years to understand it completely. (I had to read it with 17 and was quite sure, that the teacher was as clueless as us pupils were! Nowadays I am absolutely certain.) Walle, walle, manche Strecke das zum Zwecke Wasser fließe und mit reichem, vollen Schwalle zu dem Bade sich ergieße!

[@wsmith49]

I think your German tourist nailed it. I've read and am now, thanks to the inspiration of this wonderful video, rereading Randall Jarrell's English translation of FAUST Part One, trying to latch onto a few more straws than I did on the first read. I read some lesser translator's go at FAUST Part Two (Jarrell, to the best of my limited knowledge, shied away from ever even attempting to English Part Two) and it was almost entirely me and the footnotes trying to make heads or tails of what must be brilliantly lucid in the original German. Thanks SO much for uploading these Will Durant episodes in general and this one in particular. Do you know the name of the reader? He has a billion-dollar voice and trillion-dollar delivery. I've heard him read a dozen other books before and he never fails to entrance. Unfortunately, I keep losing his name! Hey, Rocky C: you are a hero!!!!!!!!!!!

[@wsmith49]

Thanks for the info and for taking the time to reply. How interesting that the accomplished reader hides behind a display of aliases! I'll do some further research. Am much enjoying my reread of Jarrell's translation of Faust Part I; thanks again for the inspiration.

[@wsmith49]

Just finished a reread of Randall Jarrell's Englishing of FAUST Part I. Much better the second time around. Also, probably helped that this summer I finally read, at project Gutenberg, Maturin's Gothic classic MELMOTH THE WANDERER, which gave me a great feel for the bathetic depths of Gothic Romanticism, which resonate, in my amateur opinion, throughout FAUST Part I. I doubt you'll find a better English translation than Jarrell's; Jarrell was an accomplished American poet himself (author of the famous short poem THE BALL TURRET GUNNER), and has the good sense to free himself of the burden of trying to stick to the rhymed poetry of the original. I think it's always a blunder to translate poetry that rhymes in the original language into any sort of rhymed English poetry. Which is not to say Jarrell doesn't produce something almost identical to poetry in his Englishing. The translation is what he calls "blank verse," and he claims to have paid some sort of attention to meter, but, fortunately, that doesn't seem to obtrude negatively on the final product. He also, in his own words, "My motto is: Anything that wants to rhyme can," is not averse to letting the English do a little singing here and there. And if you are a fan of Joyce's ULYSSES, the two Walpurgisnacht scenes of the play, as Jarrell handsomely brings them over into English, will give you some insight into Joyce's debt to FAUST Part I for the Nighttown (the soi-disant "Circe") section of his own magnum opus. Go ahead, try to find the Jarrell translation (maybe in your public library? certainly at Amazon; I got it at my fave used bookstore for seven bux), take a deep breath, and dive in. Oh, and if you want, it's perfectly fine, especially first time around, to skip the "Dedication" and the "Prelude at the Theater" first two introductory scenes; if you wind up liking the play, always feel free to back up and read those first two scenes to help you debrief. Bonne chance!

[@SimplyLimbo]

They let you read faust II at 17 ???

[@xxcoopcoopxx]

That poem at 30:50...

[@Rico-Suave_]

Watching 23:06

[@DurantandFriends]

How'd it turn out for you?

[@philippecolin151]

It's just about his erectile achievements, a bit disappointing

[@panchovilla8437]

Original finder canon law code of conduct [cc] all rights reserved Jose carbajal

[@panchovilla8437]

Code man here to verify Google and third party’s rules regulations [cc]

[@Randall2023]

Dauphin River First Nation Canada 🇨🇦

[@chnnlsrfr3873]

If Goethe is a genius, and I'm positive I have better fashion sense than Goethe, does that make me a genius?

[@elaineschott9349]

G

[@michaelcrum5831]

Adolph Enkmann

[@michaelcrum5831]

Gertz

[@rballen420]

goethe 😂loving women much more than war…

[@Randall2023]

Dauphin River First Nation Manitoba Canada 🇨🇦

[@Sagittarius-81]

What a pack of lies.

[@siddharthamishra1999]

Which part?

[@gazza2390]

What a load of absolute nonsense

[@skyerscape8454]

HahA, some boy though…😂

[@skyerscape8454]

Please tell me that you listened the whole thing whilst also thinking it nonsense. 😩

[@Gorboduc]

Bloody boring life. :/

[@skronked]

It's a real thumper! I'll take Kafka or Joyce!