I have just finished reading Hermann Bahr’s Russian Journey. It would not be fair if I denied that I actually enjoyed reading it. Sometimes my mind needs food that is not too profound, that doesn’t evaporate immediately but still offers something to taste. With my other reading, I usually have to think; I don’t have to make an effort, but it electrifies me, it brings life into my limbs; I often have to jump up from my chair. With Hermann Bahr, I can lie comfortably on the sofa and probably only move my legs. There is one drawback: I cannot read a line by Bahr without smoking. During a book by Bahr, the cost of cigarettes even rivals the book’s price, if not more. Without a chaotic cloud of blue-grey smoke in front of me, I cannot absorb a sentence of Bahr into my consciousness. I also understand Bahr only since I smoke.
Source (German): Rudolf Steiner – GA 39 – BRIEFE BAND II – 1890-1925 (page 133-134)
Translated by Nesta Carsten-Krüger
Richard Specht (1870-1932)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Specht
Previously posted on June 9, 2021
The great Rudolf Steiner Quotes Site 