The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1870-03-17
Nature :-Aphorisms by Goethe.

; Nature We are surrounded and en-
braced by her powerless to separate oul
selves from her, and powerless to pene
trate beyond her.
Without asking or warning she snatch
es us in her circling dance, and whirls u
on until we are tired, and drop from he
arms.
She is ever shaping new forms wha
it has never yet been; what has been
never comes again. Everything is new
and yet naught but the old. We liv,
! IN her midst and know her not. She i
incessantly speaking to us, but betray
not her secret. We constantly act upor
her, but have no power over her.
The one thing she seems 10 aim at il
individuality yet she cares not for indi
Vlduals. She is always building up anG
destroying but her workshop is mac
cessible
Her life is in her children; but where
Is her mother? She is the only artist
working up the most uniform material
into utter epposites, arriving without a
trace OF effort, at perfection, at the most
exact precision, though always veilcd un-
der certain softness.
Each Of her works has an essence of its
own each Of her phenomena special
Characterization and yet their diversity
| IS III unity.
She performs play we know not
whether she sees it herself, and yet she
acts for us, the lockers on.
Incessant life, development. and
movement are in her, but she advances
not She changes forever and rests not
moment. Quietude is uncomfortable
to her, and she has laid her curse upon
rest She is firm. Her steps are meas
ured, her exceptions rare, her laws un-
| changeable.
| She has always thought, and always
thinks though not as man but as Nature.
She broods over an all comprehending
idea which no searching can fiud out.
Mankind dwell in her and she in them.
With all men she plays game for loye,
and rejoices the more the more they win.
With many her motives are so hidden,
that the game is over before they know
it.
That which Is most unnatural is still
Nature the stupidest phiistinism has a
touch Of her genius. Whose cannot
see her everywhere, sees her nowhere
rightly.
She loves herself, and her innumer
able eyes and affections are fixed upon
herself. She has divided herself, that
she may be her own delight. She caus-
es an endless succession Of new capacities
for enjoyment to spring up, that their
Unsuitable sympathy may be assuaged.
She rejoices in Illusion Whose de-
stroys it in himself and others, him she
Furnishes with the severest tyranny.
Whose follows her in faith, him she
takes as child to her bosom.
Her children are numberless. To
none is she altogether miserly but she
has her fayorites on whom she squanders
much, and for whom she sacrifices.
Over greatness she spreads her shield.
She tosses her creatures out OF moth
ingness, and tells them not whence they
came, nor whether they go. 1t is their
business to run. she knows the road,
Her mechanism has few springs, but
they never wear out, are always active
and manifold,
The spectacle of Nature is always new,
for she is always renewing the spectators.
Life is her most exquisite invention and
death is her expert contrIyance to keep
plenty Of life.
She wraps man in darkness, and
makes him for ever long for light. She
creates him independent upon the earth,
dull and heavy and yet is always shak-
ing him until he attempts to soar higher.
She creates needs because she loves
action. Wonderous that she produces
all this action SO easily Every need is a
| benefit, swiftly satisfied, swiftly renewed.
Eveay fresh want is a source Of pleasure,
but she soon reaches an equilibrium.
che
mence .iourneyr, and every instant she
has reached her goal She is vanity of
vanities but not to US, to whom she has
She allows every child to play tricks with
her thousands to walk stupidity over
her and see nothing and takes her
pleasure and finds her account in them
all.
We obey her laws even when we rebel
against them we work with her even
when we desire to work against her.
She makes every gift a benefit by
causing US to want it, She delays that
we may desire her; she hastens that we
may not weary her.
She hasneither language nor discourse,
but she creates hearts and tongues,
by which she feels and speaks.
Her crown is loye. Through love
alone dare we come near her. She sep
arates all existences, and all tend to in
termingle. She has isolated all things
in order that ali may approach one anoth
er. She holds a couple Of drauths from
the cup Of love to be fair payment for
the pains Of lifetime.
She is all things, she rewards her
Sc If and punlshes herself; is her own joy
and her own misery. She is rough and
tender, lovely and hateful, powerless and
omnipotent. She is an eternal present.
Past and future are unknown to her.
The present is her eternity. She is
benifcent. | praise her and all her
works She is silent and wise.
She is complete, but never finished
As she works now, so can she always
work Every one sees her in his own
fashion. she hides under thousand
names and phrases, and is always the
same. She has brought me here and
will also lead me away. [ trust her.
She may scold me, but she will not hate
her work. 1t was not I that spoke Of
her. Nol What is false, and what is
true, she has spoken it all. The fault,
the merit is all hers.