He
never said a bitter or cruel word about any man. Compare him with Dante
or even with Goethe, and you shall find him vastly superior to either of
them in loving kindness. He was more contemptuously treated in life than
even Dante, and yet he never fell away to bitterness as Dante did: he
complained, it is true; but he never allowed his fairness to be warped;
he was of the noblest intellectual temper.
It is impossible not to honour him, for the truth is he had more virtue
in him than any other son of man. "By their fruits ye shall know them."
He produced more masterpieces than any other writer, and the finest
sayings in the world's literature are his. Think of it: Goethe was
perfectly equipped; he had a magnificent mind and body and temperament:
he was born in the better middle classes; he was well off; splendidly
handsome; thoroughly educated; his genius was recognized on all hands
when he was in his teens; and it was developed by travel and princely
patronage. Yet what did Goethe do in proof of his advantages? "Faust" is
the only play he ever wrote that can rank at all with a dozen of
Shakespeare's.
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