On Liberty — Page 5
He died in 1873, his last years being spent peacefully in the pleasant society of his step-daughter, from whose tender care and earnest intellectual sympathy he caught maybe a far-off reflection of the light which had irradiated his spiritual life.
Er starb im Jahre 1873, seine letzten Jahre in der angenehmen Gesellschaft seiner Stieftochter friedlich verbringend, aus deren zärtlicher Fürsorge und aufrichtiger geistiger Anteilnahme er vielleicht einen weit entfernten Widerschein des Lichtes auffing, das sein geistiges Leben erleuchtet hatte.
II.
II.
The circumstances under which John Stuart Mill wrote his _Liberty_ are largely connected with the influence which Mrs. Taylor wielded over his career.
Die Umstände, unter denen John Stuart Mill seine Schrift _Über die Freiheit_ verfasste, stehen in engem Zusammenhang mit dem Einfluss, den Mrs. Taylor auf seinen Lebensweg ausübte.
The dedication is well known.
Die Widmung ist wohl bekannt.
It contains the most extraordinary panegyric on a woman that any philosopher has ever penned.
Sie enthält den außergewöhnlichsten Lobgesang auf eine Frau, den je ein Philosoph niedergeschrieben hat.
"Were I but capable of interpreting to the world one-half the great thoughts and noble feelings which are buried in her grave, I should be the medium of a greater benefit to it than is ever likely to arise from anything that I can write, unprompted and unassisted by her all but unrivalled wisdom."
„Wäre ich nur imstande, der Welt auch nur die Hälfte der großen Gedanken und edlen Gefühle zu vermitteln, die in ihrem Grabe begraben sind, so wäre ich das Mittel eines größeren Nutzens für sie, als jemals aus irgendetwas entstehen dürfte, das ich schreiben kann, ohne den Antrieb und den Beistand ihrer fast unvergleichlichen Weisheit."
It is easy for the ordinary worldly cynicism to curl a sceptical lip over sentences like these.
Es ist leicht für den gewöhnlichen weltlichen Zynismus, bei solchen Sätzen die Lippen skeptisch zu kräuseln.
There may be exaggeration of sentiment, the necessary and inevitable reaction of a man who was trained according to the "dry light" of so unimpressionable a man as James Mill, the father; but the passage quoted is not the only one in which John Stuart Mill proclaims his unhesitating belief in the intellectual influence of his wife.
Es mag eine Übertreibung des Gefühls darin liegen, die notwendige und unvermeidliche Reaktion eines Mannes, der nach dem „trockenen Licht" eines so wenig empfänglichen Mannes wie James Mill, des Vaters, erzogen wurde; aber die zitierte Stelle ist nicht die einzige, in der John Stuart Mill seinen unerschütterlichen Glauben an den geistigen Einfluss seiner Frau bekundet.
The treatise on _Liberty_ was written especially under her authority and encouragement, but there are many earlier references to the power which she exercised over his mind.
Die Abhandlung über die _Freiheit_ wurde besonders unter ihrer Autorität und Ermutigung geschrieben, doch gibt es viele frühere Hinweise auf die Macht, die sie über seinen Geist ausübte.
Vocabulary
- starb
- Died; past tense of sterben
- Jahre
- Year; used in date expressions
- letzten
- Last; final, referring to final days or moments
- angenehmen
- Pleasant; agreeable, enjoyable (inflected form)
- Gesellschaft
- Company, society; group of people together
- Stieftochter
- Stepdaughter; daughter of one's spouse from prior relationship
- friedlich
- Peacefully; in a calm and tranquil manner
- verbringend
- Spending; present participle of verbringen, to spend time
- deren
- Whose; relative pronoun, genitive feminine or plural
- zärtlicher
- Tender, affectionate; gentle and loving (inflected form)
- Fürsorge
- Care, concern; attentive looking after someone
- aufrichtiger
- Sincere, genuine; honest and heartfelt (inflected form)
- geistiger
- Intellectual, mental; of the mind or spirit (inflected)
- Anteilnahme
- Sympathy, interest; sharing in another's feelings or concerns
- vielleicht
- Perhaps, maybe; expressing uncertainty or possibility
- weit
- Far, distant; indicating great distance or degree
- entfernten
- Distant, remote; far away (inflected form of entfernt)
- Widerschein
- Reflection, glimmer; reflected or faint light
- Lichtes
- Light; genitive form of Licht
- auffing
- Caught; past tense of auffangen, to catch or intercept
- geistiges
- Intellectual, spiritual; of the mind (inflected neuter form)
- Leben
- Life; existence, the state of being alive
- erleuchtet
- Illuminated, enlightened; lit up or mentally enlightened
- Umstände
- Circumstances; conditions surrounding an event
- denen
- Which, whom; relative pronoun in dative plural
- Schrift
- Writing, text; a written work or publication
- Freiheit_
- Freedom, liberty; state of being free
- verfasste
- Composed, wrote; past tense of verfassen
- engem
- Close, tight; narrow or intimate (dative inflected)
- Zusammenhang
- Connection, context; relationship between things
- Einfluss
- Influence; effect one person or thing has on another
- Lebensweg
- Life's path; the course of someone's life
- ausübte
- Exerted, exercised; past tense of ausüben
- Widmung
- Dedication; inscription dedicating a work to someone
- wohl
- Well, probably; modal particle expressing assumption
- bekannt
- Known, familiar; widely recognized
- enthält
- Contains; third person singular of enthalten
- außergewöhnlichsten
- Most extraordinary; superlative of außergewöhnlich (inflected)
- Lobgesang
- Hymn of praise; an effusive tribute or panegyric
- Frau
- Woman, wife; adult female person
- je
- Ever; at any time, used in comparisons
- Philosoph
- Philosopher; person who studies fundamental questions
- niedergeschrieben
- Written down; past participle of niederschreiben
- Wäre
- Were; subjunctive II of sein, expressing hypothesis
- imstande
- Capable, able; in a position to do something
- Welt
- World; the earth or all of humanity
- Hälfte
- Half; one of two equal parts
- Gedanken
- Thoughts, ideas; products of mental activity
- edlen
- Noble, fine; elevated in character (inflected form)
- Gefühle
- Feelings, emotions; inner emotional states
- vermitteln
- To convey, mediate; to communicate or pass on
- Grabe
- Grave; dative form of Grab, burial site
- begraben
- Buried; past participle of begraben, to bury
- wäre
- Would be; subjunctive II of sein
- Mittel
- Means, medium; a way or instrument to achieve something
- größeren
- Greater, larger; comparative of groß (inflected)
- Nutzens
- Benefit, use; genitive of Nutzen, usefulness
- jemals
- Ever; at any point in time
- irgendetwas
- Anything, something; any unspecified thing
- entstehen
- To arise, emerge; to come into being
- dürfte
- May, might; subjunctive II of dürfen
- schreiben
- To write; to produce written text
- ohne
- Without; preposition indicating absence of something
- Antrieb
- Motivation, drive; impetus to act or create
- Beistand
- Support, assistance; help provided to someone
- fast
- Almost, nearly; very close to a full degree
- unvergleichlichen
- Incomparable, matchless; without equal (inflected form)
- Weisheit
- Wisdom; deep knowledge and good judgment
- leicht
- Easy, light; not difficult or not heavy
- gewöhnlichen
- Ordinary, common; usual (inflected form of gewöhnlich)
- weltlichen
- Worldly, secular; of the material world (inflected)
- Zynismus
- Cynicism; distrustful attitude toward sincerity or idealism
- solchen
- Such; of that kind (inflected form of solch)
- Sätzen
- Sentences, phrases; dative plural of Satz
- Lippen
- Lips; the two fleshy parts of the mouth
- skeptisch
- Skeptically; with doubt or disbelief
- kräuseln
- To curl, purse; to wrinkle or curl the lips
- mag
- May; third person singular of mögen
- Übertreibung
- Exaggeration; overstating beyond what is true
- Gefühls
- Of feeling; genitive form of Gefühl
- darin
- Therein, in it; within something just mentioned
- liegen
- To lie, to be located; to exist within
- notwendige
- Necessary; required or unavoidable (inflected form)
- unvermeidliche
- Inevitable; impossible to avoid (inflected form)
- Reaktion
- Reaction; a response to a stimulus or situation
- trockenen
- Dry, arid; lacking warmth or emotion (inflected)
- Licht
- Light; illumination or intellectual clarity
- wenig
- Little, few; small amount or degree
- empfänglichen
- Receptive, susceptible; open to impressions (inflected)
- Vaters
- Father's; genitive form of Vater
- erzogen
- Raised, educated; past participle of erziehen
- zitierte
- Quoted; past tense of zitieren
- Stelle
- Passage, place; a specific point in text
- einzige
- Only, sole; the single one of its kind
- unerschütterlichen
- Unshakeable, steadfast; not to be moved (inflected)
- Glauben
- Belief, faith; conviction in something
- geistigen
- Intellectual, mental; of the mind (inflected form)
- bekundet
- Attests, demonstrates; expresses or shows clearly
- Abhandlung
- Treatise, essay; a detailed scholarly written work
- _Freiheit_
- Freedom; title word referring to Mill's essay
- besonders
- Especially, particularly; to a notable degree
- Autorität
- Authority; recognized power or expertise
- Ermutigung
- Encouragement; support that motivates further action
- geschrieben
- Written; past participle of schreiben
- doch
- Yet, still, indeed; emphatic or contrastive particle
- viele
- Many; a large number of
- frühere
- Earlier, former; preceding in time (inflected)
- Hinweise
- References, hints; indications pointing to something
- Macht
- Power, might; ability to influence or control
- Geist
- Mind, spirit, intellect; the thinking or spiritual faculty
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