The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-10-07
Arthur Schopenhauer.

i
| A book entitled "schopenhauer's Table
Talk" edited by DR.. Griesbach, is about
| to be published by Hoffman & Co., OF
| Berlin. and a Hamburg paper has already
/ printed the following extracts from it;
! schopenhauer. who was an enthusiastic
! lover Of music, said TO DR.. Francois Willie:
Thank your friend Wagner in my name
| for sending me his ''N;belungen." but he
| ought 10 hang music on the nail; he has
| more genius for poetry. 1, Schopenhauer
| remain true TO Ross.ni and Mozart" In
| conversation with Robert Won Hornst Elm.
he said: He has sent me MS Triology
| The fellow is a poet, not musician There
are mad things in It, though. Once tat the
end Of the first act OF the 'Walkure,) you
| read: The curtain falls quickly. But II
| IL doesn't fall quickly, there VIII be wick
| cd things to SEE" Again he said: II ad
rnire and love Mozart. and go TO all con-
certs in which Beethovens symphonies are
played; but If one has heard much Of RoS-
SIM, everything else seems ponderous.'
Whenever he SPOKE of Rossiri, he looked
reverently heavenwsrd. Once. however,
when Rossini stayed some days at the
Hotel d'Angleterre. in Frankfort, and he
sat near him at table, he declined 10 make
his acquaintance. He said TO the land
lord, That can't possibly be Rossini;
that's fat F'rerchman."
He had no sympathy with Carl Maria
Won Weber. and pronounced his "Freis-
Chutz" TO be "a nice but quite little opera. -
He possessed all Rossin.'s operas arranged
for the flute, and ''huted'' out of them
daily from twelve to one, but never al
lowed anybody TO listen. OF Beethoven 5
M-major Symphony ne said to Robert Won
Hornste.n: "One thinks. in listening TO
that, one has escaped all earthly pain for
ever" When Hornstein took leave of him
after his first visit, he said: You owe
II to my housekeeper that received you;
she said you were a student; if you had
been a professor of philosophy, 1 should
not have received you OF the we'll
known psychologist Moleschott, ne said he
was journeyman barber: his chapter on
the VIII was too much for a schooIboy.
He sometimes spoke OF Byron, whom he
regarded as the second best of the English
poets. He SAID: II had letter of intro
duction from Goethe TO Byron. I spent
three months in Venice hen Byron was
there. 1 always intended to go to him with
Goethe's letter, but one day gave 1t up
altogether. / was walking with my mis-
tress on the Lido, when suddenly my Dull
'Ecco il poeta Inglesev Byron swept past
me on horseback, and the Donna couldn't
get rid of the impression all day. So
resolved not to deliver Goethe's letter. Oh,
how / have regretted THAR
Hornstein tells us that Schopenhauer
regarded it as noteworthy that his philos-
ophy had gained a good deal Of acceptance
in Catholic circles. and explained this phe-
bxyc vim s1of = &c mr. nv
more justice to Catholicism than any other
since the times OF the Schoolmen. He
enthusiastically inferred that Catholi-
cism would last longer than Protestant
Ism. He thought the abolition of the cell
ibacy of the clergy the greatest mistake
Luther ever made. but ne admitted that
Luther was "a great man, deep thinker"
OF men of genius, he said: Don't walt
with your recognition and sympathy till
they are IN their graves, but help them
so long as they have empty stomachs to
fill and mouths TO kiss" To c. G. Beck.
who had the courage to tell him that he
had been an enthusiastic admirer OF Hegsl,
he said: "Oh, that you had thrown his
works into the fire instead of wasting your
precious time with them. This chariatan
poisoned the brains of the whole German
youth with his witches multiplied ton
table,
OF Kant, he said: TITS pleasure TO me
TO have near me the bust of man vino has
SO powerfully Influenced my Efe and my
thoughts His aversion to socialism may
be inferred from what he said of the plan
ter Courbet: He is an excellent artist,
but the socialistic goading-on spirit which
found expression in some of his pictures
disguised me-" One day he showed Beck
small. very beautifully painted portrait.
representing him as youth OF twenty
six. Beck says: Il noticed that. as I was
gazing at the picture. he kept looking a
me inquisitively with his large eyes as II
he wanted TO divine the impression 1t
made on me. You are surprised, you are
surprised he then said hastily. L know
the reason. too; the red hair disturbs you.
Yes 1 said, for I have known you only
with white hair L never had red hair
never he said, almost venemently. L
had a peculiar kind of fair hair, which the |
painter could represent only by laying on |
red as the ground color. Well, when 1 |
stayed al Dresden I had the picture hang |
ing beside the window. through which the |
warm sun-rays fell on II and entirely licked |
away the upper coating, so that at last /
only the red rems:ned. The picture will !
go down 10 pos;er-ty. and, in orer 20 pre- |
vent the erroneous superstition that I had !
red hair, / wrote on the back, as you see,
In Latin. German. French, English, and |
Italian, I never had red hair. -
One day. in his last years. he said 20 Dr.
Wilhelm Gwinner: That the worms will
soon gnaw my body is not a disagreeable
thought 10 me: but l reflect with horror
Tow my mind VIII De maItreated under the
lands OF the professors of philosophy"
Another time he said: Il shall live TO
great age; my good sleep and my good
Itomach tell NE that. / should Ike 20 I've
o the age Of ninety. Even in the case OF
there IS something violent
bout death, but at ninety the transition
S quiet. A man OF ninety st Aschaffsn-
,urg was just going 10 cut cluster OF
-rapes from a trellis, when he fell down
ead. I'd ike 20 die so. i wouldn't Ike
o suffer long" This seems, but only
Gems. 10 contradict the opinion he ex-
resses. in MS ''Vorld as VIII and Pre-
entation,' that X would be better = the
Torld did not exist. Another OF his utter
noes about death Is memorable: For |
lie IL would be an unmitigstei blessing to !
tain 70 absolute nota.ngness bu:. IN
ortuaa tely. death opens no prospect %
nat. But, come what WI have al least /
clean Intellectual conscience"