suddenly, ‘What a stiff beggar a human being is, when he can think of nothing better than straight lines to get at the secrets of Nature, whereas Nature itself has none, until the artist comes along and takes his wavy lines from nature.’ “ [1104W-{11/14/81} CD Vol. II, p. 747]
[1105W-{11/14/81} CD Vol. II, p. 748]
[P. 748] “… our reading of Sismondi, which I am now studying with the girls, leads our conversation to heretics and their views, so deep and so similar to ours.” [1105W-{11/14/81} CD Vol. II, p. 748]
[1106W-{11/22/81} CD Vol. II, p. 751]
[P. 751] “This morning he ends his letter to the King and tells me that he has dealt particularly with the subject of the Jews, told him that they have preserved a feeling for genuineness which the Germans have entirely lost, and that is why many of them cling to him.” [1106W-{11/22/81} CD Vol. II, p. 751]
[1107W-{11/22/81} Letter to King Ludwig II of Bavaria: SLRW, p. 918]
[P. 918] “By a curious quirk of fate I … met here [in Venice] the man who is preparing the vocal score of ‘Parsifal’ … . As a result I am, so to speak, playing into his hands, which means that I am making excellent progress on the work. The man in question is the curious figure of Joseph Rubinstein, who first approached me ten years ago while I was at Triebschen, begging me to save him from the Jewishness of which he was a part. I allowed him to have personal dealings with me – he is, in any case, an outstanding musician – although it must be said that he – no less than the good Levi – has caused me a good deal of trouble. What both these unhappy men lack is the basis of a Christian education which instinctively enables the rest of us to appear similar in kind – however different we may in fact be – and the result, for them, is the most painful mental anguish. Faced with these circumstances – and very often having to combat their tendency towards suicide – I have had to exercise the most extreme patience, and if it is a question of being humane towards the Jews, I for one can confidently lay claim to praise. But I simply cannot get rid of them: the director Angelo Neumann sees it as his calling in life to ensure that I am recognized through the world [* Wagner’s Footnote: “Because of their dealings in paintings, jewelry and furniture, the Jews have an instinct for what is genuine and what can be turned to lasting value, an instinct which the Germans have lost so completely as to give the Jews what is genuine in exchange for what is not.”]. There is no longer anything I can say to all this, but simply have to put up with energetic Jewish patronage, however curious I feel in doing so, for – I can explain my exalted friend’s favourable view of the Jews only in terms of the fact that these people never impinge upon his royal circle: for him they are simply a concept, whereas for us they are an empirical fact. {anti-FEUER/NIET} If I have friendly and sympathetic dealings with many of these people, it is only because I consider the Jewish race the born enemy of pure humanity and all that is noble in man: there is no doubt that we Germans especially will be destroyed by them, and I may well be the last remaining German who, as an artist, has known how to hold his ground in the face of a Judaism which is now all-powerful.” [1107W-{11/22/81} Letter to King Ludwig II of Bavaria: SLRW, p. 918]
