The Rudolf Steiner Archive

1. Nervousness and the Ego

[ 1 ] Today I would like to offer a few suggestions regarding certain things we are already familiar with, but which may nevertheless be useful to some of us, and which can also lead us to a more precise understanding of the nature of the human being and his relationship to the world. The anthroposophist will, of course, very often have the opportunity to encounter, in addition to the objections and criticisms of Spiritual Science discussed in the public lectures this time, all manner of other things raised by outsiders. In particular, both learned and unlearned people repeatedly raise many objections to the fact that, in the sense of Spiritual Science, we speak of a division of the entire human being into those four members we always mention: the physical body, the etheric or Life-Body, the astral body, and the I. And skeptics may well object that while it might be possible for a person who develops certain otherwise hidden powers of the soul to perceive something akin to these members of the being, for those who do not see such things, there could be no reason to subscribe to such a view. Now, however, it must be emphasized that human life, if one is attentive, not only provides confirmation of what spiritual knowledge has to say, but that when one applies what one can learn from spiritual knowledge to life, such an application proves to be extraordinarily useful. And one will come to realize that this benefit—I do not mean benefit in a lower sense, but rather that benefit which is a benefit in a higher sense—can gradually instill in us a kind of conviction, even if we do not wish to delve into what presents itself to clairvoyant observation.

[ 2 ] It is all too well known that in our time there is much complaining about what is encompassed by the much-feared word “nervousness,” and one should not be at all surprised if this or that person feels compelled to say: In our time, there is actually no one left who is not nervous in some way or another. And how could we not find such a statement understandable? Quite apart from the social conditions and circumstances to which we might attribute this or that cause of such nervousness, precisely those states that can be described as nervousness are present in other contexts as well, and they manifest themselves in the most diverse ways. They manifest themselves, one might say, in the mildest way, in the least uncomfortable way, in that a person becomes what one might call a restless soul. I would call such a person one who is incapable of holding onto a thought properly and truly following it through to its consequences, who is always jumping from one thought to another, and when one tries to keep them focused on a single thought, they have long since jumped to another. A restlessness of the mental life—that is often the mildest form of nervousness.

[ 3 ] Another kind of nervousness is this: people don’t quite know what to make of themselves; they are, so to speak, unable to make up their minds about matters that require a decision, and they never really know what to do in this or that situation.

[ 4 ] However, these conditions can also lead to others that are even more serious, as the nervousness gradually manifests itself more and more in all sorts of symptoms for which no organic causes can actually be identified, but which sometimes mimic organic diseases in a deceptive way, so that one might, for example, believe a person has a serious stomach ailment, when in fact they are suffering only from what is rather trivially and unimportantly summarized by the word “nervousness.” These are symptoms of illness from which the affected person naturally suffers just as much as if they originated from the organic realm. And numerous other conditions could be mentioned—who is not familiar with them, who does not suffer from them, whether they have them themselves or whether other people in their surroundings do. One need not—I do not wish to digress into another area—go so far as to speak of “political alcoholism” in relation to the major events of external life; after all, there has recently been talk of that kind of nervous agitation in public life as a sort of behavior that otherwise manifests itself in the individual only when he is, so to speak, slightly touched by alcoholism. The term has been used to describe the way political affairs have been conducted in Europe in recent months. There, too, you see something in public life of which one might say: Here, too, one not only notices that the nervousness is there, but that one finds it, in a certain sense, quite uncomfortable. So this kind of nervousness is present everywhere.

[ 5 ] What this implies is that, in the coming times, things will certainly not get better for people, but will instead get worse and worse. There is absolutely no way to offer any kind of positive outlook for the future if people remain as they are now. For there are various harmful influences that affect our present lives in an extraordinary way and that spread—one might say epidemically—from one person to another, so that not only those who are somewhat predisposed in this regard are affected, but others as well who may be only slightly weakened but are otherwise healthy.

[ 6 ] Something tremendously harmful to our times is that a large number of the people who rise to prominent positions in public life are educated in the manner in which education is currently conducted. There are, in fact, entire fields of study where one, let’s say, lives at the university in such a way that one actually spends the entire year doing things quite different from thinking through and studying what the professors say in their lectures; one goes in now and then, but what one needs to know for the exams is acquired in a few weeks—that is, one crams in the bare essentials. The problem with this is such rote learning. And since, in a certain sense, rote learning extends all the way down to the lower grades, the evils that result from it are by no means harmless. The crux of this rote learning is that there is no real connection between the soul’s interest, the innermost core of one’s being, and what one is cramming into one’s head. In fact, the prevailing opinion among students in schools is often: Oh, if only I could forget what I’ve learned as soon as possible. — So that vehement desire to possess what one has learned is not there. A tenuous thread of interest connects, so to speak, the core of the human soul with what people take in.

[ 7 ] Now, it is precisely the consequence of this fact that people cannot actually develop in this way to the point of being able to intervene effectively in public life, because by cramming the things they want to learn, they are not inwardly connected to the tasks of their profession; they are emotionally distant from what they are doing with their minds. Now there is hardly anything worse for the entire being of a human being than to be emotionally, with one’s heart, distant from what the mind must do. This is not only something that contradicts a finer, more sensitive person, but something that affects the strength and energy of the human etheric body to the highest degree—precisely the etheric body. The etheric or Life-Body grows weaker and weaker under such activity because of the tenuous connection that exists between the human soul core and what the person is doing. The more a person has to do something that does not interest them, the more they weaken their etheric or Life-Body.

[ 8 ] Anthroposophy should now have such an effect on those people who assimilate it in a healthy way that they not only learn that the human being consists of a physical body, an etheric body, and so on, but that this anthroposophy should have such an effect that these individual aspects of human nature unfold strongly and vigorously within the person in a healthy way.

[ 9 ] If a person conducts a very simple experiment, but repeats it diligently, even a small thing can work wonders. Please forgive me if I speak today of individual observations, of small things, which can, however, be and become very significant for human life. For the slight forgetfulness that people sometimes display is intimately connected with what I have just described. Slight forgetfulness is something unpleasant in life; but anthroposophy can also show us that this forgetfulness is, in the most profound sense, harmful to health. And as strange as it sounds, it is true: many outbursts of human nature that border on the seriously pathological would be avoided if people were less forgetful. Now you might say: People are simply forgetful; who can—we can easily see this if we take a broad view of life—who can completely absolve themselves of forgetfulness? — Let’s take a small, common example: A person catches themselves being forgetful, never knowing where they’ve put the things they need. Isn’t that something that happens in life? One person can never find their pencil, another their cufflinks that they took off in the evening, and so on. It seems strange and trivial to talk about these things; but they do happen in life. And, precisely by observing what we can learn from anthroposophy, there is a good exercise for gradually improving such forgetfulness as has just been described. It is a very simple method. Let’s suppose, for my sake, that a lady puts a brooch somewhere in the evening, or a gentleman his cufflinks, and he discovers that he can’t find them the next morning. Now you might say: Yes, certainly, one could get into the habit of always putting them in the same place. You won’t be able to do that for every object; but let’s not talk about that right now, but rather about a much more effective way to cure yourself. Let’s assume a person who notices their forgetfulness in themselves would, in order to cure themselves of it, say: I will now place the objects in question, which I want to find again, in quite different places; but I will never place an object in a specific spot without first forming the thought: I have placed the object in this spot; I will note the image of the surroundings in terms of shape, color, and so on, and I will try to commit this to memory. Let’s suppose we place a safety pin on the edge of a table where there is a corner; we place it with the thought: I am placing this pin on this edge, and I commit to memory as an image the right angle that appears around it because the pin is surrounded on two sides by edges, and so on. Now I walk away from the object with peace of mind, and I will see—if I do this just once, I may not succeed at first in finding the object again in every case, but if I do this more often, if I make it a rule to place my things with such thoughts—that my forgetfulness gradually diminishes more and more. This is based on the fact that a very specific thought has been formed—the thought: I am putting the needle there—and through this my “I” has been connected with the action, with what I am doing, and an image is added to it. Clear imagery in thinking, a pictorial mental image of what I am doing, and furthermore, connecting the action with the core of my spiritual and soul being, with my “I”—this is what can significantly sharpen our memory. In this way, we can already derive one benefit for life: that we become less forgetful. One might not even need to make a big deal out of it, if only that could be achieved; but much more can be achieved through it.

[ 10 ] Suppose there were a kind of habitual practice among people of entertaining such thoughts when putting away certain objects; this practice alone would bring about a strengthening of the human etheric body. By doing such a thing, the human etheric body is in fact consolidated more and more, becoming stronger and stronger and stronger. We have learned from anthroposophy that the etheric or Life-Body must be regarded, in a certain sense, as the bearer of memory. If we do something that strengthens the powers of memory, we can understand from the outset that such a strengthening of the powers of memory is beneficial to our etheric or Life-Body. As anthroposophists, we need not be surprised by this. Suppose you were to recommend such a method not only to a forgetful person, but to someone who exhibits signs of nervousness. Suppose you advise a fidgety or nervous person to perform the exercise of placing objects down while accompanying the action with thoughts such as those just described; you will see that through earnest practice, they will not only become less forgetful, but that by strengthening their etheric body, they will gradually become capable of overcoming their nervous states. In this way, you have provided proof through life that what anthroposophy says about the etheric body is correct. When we relate to the etheric body in the appropriate manner, it becomes evident that it gains strength. In the attainment of such successes, we can see proof of the correctness of the concept and characterization of the etheric body.

[ 11 ] Let us move on to another matter, which again may seem like a minor detail, but is in fact of extraordinary importance. You know that what we call the physical body and the etheric body are in direct contact with one another within the human being. The etheric body is directly interwoven with the physical body; that is to say, they are intimately interpenetrated. Now, in our time, you can observe a peculiarity that is not at all rare, and for which the people in whom it is observed are usually not to blame. As we make this observation and carry a healthy, compassionate soul within us, we will feel compassion for these very people in whom we can make such an observation. Or have you never seen, for example, postal clerks sitting at the counter or other people who write a lot, making quite peculiar movements before they begin to write a letter—first performing a sort of run-up with the pen in the air before they actually start writing? It doesn’t even have to come to that, for this is already the beginning of a bad state of affairs when people do such things in their profession; it may simply be that—observe this for a moment—when people write, they first have to give themselves, so to speak, a certain jolt for every stroke and in fact write in jerks, not moving the pen up and down smoothly, but in jerks. You can see this in the handwriting that is written this way.

[ 12 ] We could now understand such a state from the perspective of Spiritual Science in the following way. In a completely healthy human being—healthy in terms of the physical and etheric bodies—the etheric body, which is directed by the astral body, must always have the absolute ability to intervene in the physical body, and the physical body must be able to be a servant, an instrument of the etheric body in all its movements. If the physical body carries out movements on its own initiative that go beyond what the soul can actually will, beyond what the etheric and astral bodies will, then this is an unhealthy condition; a predominance of the physical body over the etheric body is then present. In all those who have the conditions just described, we are dealing with a weakness of the etheric body, which consists in its no longer being able to fully direct the physical body. From an occult perspective, this relationship between the etheric body and the physical body underlies all states of spasm. These are essentially related to the fact that the etheric body exercises less control over the physical body than it should; consequently, the physical body dominates and carries out all sorts of movements on its own initiative, whereas a person who is healthy in terms of their constitutional elements is subject to the will of the etheric-astral body in their movements.

[ 13 ] Now, if this condition has not become too severe in a person, there is a way to help them; one simply has to take occult realities into account. One must take into account that the etheric body as such needs to be strengthened. One must, so to speak, believe in the existence and the capacity for strengthening of the etheric body. Suppose a poor person has really ruined themselves to such an extent that they fidget constantly with their fingers before they even begin to write this or that letter. Now it would certainly be good under any circumstances to give this person the advice: “Yes, take a break, write less for a while, and you will get over this.” But this advice is only half-advice; for much more could be done if one were to give the person another, second part of the advice at the same time, if one were to advise him: And try—without straining yourself, a quarter or half an hour a day is enough—try to adopt a different handwriting, to change your strokes, so that you are forced not to write mechanically as before, but to pay attention to how you form the letters. Let’s say that while you would normally write the letter F in a certain way, you should now write it more steeply and in a completely different form, so that you have to pay attention. Get into the habit of carefully drawing the letters.

[ 14 ] If spiritual knowledge were more widespread, the principals would not say—when such a poor fellow returns from leave and has adopted a different handwriting—“What kind of crazy fellow are you? You have a completely different handwriting.” An anthroposophical leader would realize that this is an essential remedy. For when a person changes their handwriting, they are compelled to pay attention to what they are doing; and paying attention to what one does always means bringing one’s innermost core of being into intimate connection with one’s actions. Everything that connects our innermost core of being with what we do strengthens our etheric or Life-Body, and we thereby become healthier people. And it would not be at all foolish if, in education and in school, we were to work systematically toward strengthening the etheric body already in youth. Here, anthroposophy must already make a proposal today that is far from being implemented, because anthroposophy will long be regarded as something crazy by the influential figures who are to guide education; but that does not matter. Let us suppose that, when teaching children to write, one would first teach them a certain handwriting style and then ensure after they have written this way for a few years, that they change their handwriting style without any other reason, then such a change in handwriting style and the increased attention that must be applied in the process would have an immensely strengthening influence on the developing etheric body, and these people would experience fewer nervous conditions in later life.

[ 15 ] As you can see, there are certainly things one can do in life to strengthen one’s etheric or Life-Body, and this is of extraordinary importance; for it is precisely the weakness of the etheric or Life-Body that gives rise to numerous truly unhealthy conditions in our present time. It may even be said—for it is truly no exaggeration—that even certain forms of illness, which may indeed be rooted in factors against which nothing can initially be done, would take a very different course if the etheric body were stronger than they do in the weakened etheric body that is virtually a hallmark of modern humanity. With this, we have already pointed to something that can be called the cultivation of the etheric body. We apply certain exercises to strengthen the etheric body. One cannot apply exercises to something that is outright denied, to something that is not there. By showing that it is useful to apply certain exercises to the etheric body, and by proving that these exercises have an effect, one demonstrates that something like the etheric body does indeed exist. Life provides the corresponding evidence everywhere for what anthroposophy has to offer.

[ 16 ] We can also significantly strengthen our etheric body by doing something else to improve our memory. This may have already been mentioned here in another context, but it is worth repeating, because this advice should be followed for all forms of illness in which nervousness plays a role. One can do an immense amount to strengthen the etheric or Life-Body by not merely reviewing things one knows in one’s mind as one usually does, but by reviewing them in reverse order. Let’s say, for example, that one has to learn a sequence of historical events in school—battles or rulers with their corresponding dates. It is exceptionally beneficial not only to learn these in the standard order, but also to master the material in reverse order by reviewing everything from back to front. This is an extraordinarily important matter. For when we do something like this on a broader scale, we in turn contribute to an immense strengthening of our etheric body. Replaying entire dramas from back to front, thinking through what we have read in stories or the like from the end to the beginning—these are things that are of the utmost importance for the consolidation of the etheric body.

[ 17 ] Now, regarding just about everything that has been mentioned so far as being particularly good and effective for strengthening the etheric body, you will find in modern life that people do not practice it, that they either do not practice it at all or do not do so with the necessary regularity. After all, in the present-day restless hustle and bustle of daily life, one hardly has the opportunity to attain the inner calm necessary to perform such exercises. People who are employed are usually so tired and harried in the evening that they don’t even think about where they put their things or with what intentions. But when Spiritual Science truly penetrates the hearts and souls of people, then we will see that an infinite amount of what happens today could actually be avoided, and that the time in which such strengthening exercises can be undertaken is, in fact, already within everyone’s reach. One will soon realize, especially when such matters are given careful attention in the field of education, that tremendously favorable results will follow.

[ 18 ] One more small point should be mentioned; it is not particularly useful in later life, but if a person has not cultivated it in early youth, it is good to practice it later in life. That is, we should simultaneously observe certain things we do—regardless of whether the things we do leave a trace or not. When it comes to writing, this is relatively easy to do. I am convinced that many would break the habit of writing terribly if they tried to look at what they have written letter by letter, truly letting their eyes wander over what they have written once more. When writing, it is relatively easy to observe what one is doing at the same time. But as a form of practice, there is also something else that is good, though it should not be continued for long. This is when a person tries to observe themselves walking, moving their hand, moving their head, the way they laugh, and so on—in short, when they try to form a visual account of their gestures. Very few people, in fact—as you can see for yourself through sufficient observation of life—actually know how they walk. Very few have any mental image of what it looks like when someone watches them while they walk. But it is good to do such a thing in order to gain a mental image of the effect of one’s actions. However, as I said, it must not be done constantly, otherwise it contributes too much to human vanity. Apart from the fact that we would certainly correct a great deal about ourselves if we applied such a practice in life, this exercise, in turn, has an immensely beneficial effect on the consolidation of the etheric or Life-Body and also on the mastery of the etheric body by the astral body. When a person observes their gestures, when they look at what they are doing, and form a mental image of their actions, they achieve the benefit that the astral body’s control over the etheric body becomes ever stronger and stronger. This enables a person, when necessary, to successfully suppress certain things—for example, to voluntarily refrain from certain actions or movements, or to perform them differently than is customary. It is precisely one of humanity’s greatest achievements to be able, under certain circumstances, to perform actions differently than one usually does. Certainly, the intention here is not to develop, shall we say, a school of handwriting alteration; for today people generally learn to alter their handwriting only when they wish to use it for something wrong. But if one resolves to remain entirely honest in doing so, it is beneficial for the consolidation of the etheric body to occasionally adopt different handwriting styles. But it is generally good to acquire the ability to perform this or that task in a different way, so as not to be entirely dependent on having to do things only one way. And so a person certainly does not need to be a fanatical advocate of the equal use of the left and right hands; but if one does, in a moderate way, try to be able to perform at least certain tasks with the left hand that one would otherwise do with the right—one need not take this any further than simply being able to do so—this exerts a beneficial influence on the control that our astral body is meant to exert over the etheric body. Strengthening the human being in the sense that it can be achieved through spiritual scientific insight—this is part of what is to be brought to our culture through the dissemination of Spiritual Science.

[ 19 ] And of particular importance is what one might call the culture of the will. It has already been emphasized that nervousness often manifests itself precisely in the fact that people today frequently do not really know how to go about actually doing what they actually wish to do. They shy away from carrying out what they have set out to do; they accomplish nothing of substance, and so on. What we might perceive as a certain weakness of will is based on the ego’s insufficient control over the astral body. There is always an insufficient control of the astral body by the ego when a weakness of will of this kind arises, such that people want something and yet, at the same time, do not want it, or at least do not manage to actually carry out what they want. Some do not even manage to seriously want what they are supposed to want. Now there is a simple means of strengthening the will for external life, and this means is to suppress existing desires, not to carry them out—provided, of course, that the non-fulfillment of these desires causes no harm. If one examines one’s life, one will find countless things from morning to night that one desires, things that would be nice to have fulfilled, but one will also find numerous such desires where one can forgo their fulfillment without causing harm to oneself or anyone else, and without violating a duty—desires whose satisfaction might bring one joy, but which can just as well remain unfulfilled. If one systematically sets out to find, among various desires, those of which one says: No, this wish should not be fulfilled now—one must simply not tackle the matter in the most inappropriate way, but it must be something that causes no harm, something whose fulfillment brings nothing but comfort, joy, and pleasure—if one systematically suppresses such wishes, then every suppression of even a small wish signifies an influx of willpower, a strengthening of the ego against the astral body. And if we subject ourselves to such a process of self-education later in life, we will be able to make up for much in this regard, which is, after all, often neglected in contemporary youth education.

[ 20 ] Now, it is essentially difficult to have an educational impact precisely in the area that has just been described; for one must also take into account that if one, let us say, as an educator, is in a position to satisfy any desire that arises in the child or young person being educated, and one denies that desire, then one is not only denying a desire but also provoking a kind of antipathy in the pupil. But this can be detrimental from an educational standpoint. So one might say that it seems somewhat questionable to incorporate the non-fulfillment of pupils’ wishes into educational principles if this arouses antipathy in the pupils. One stands, so to speak, before a precipice of life. If a father seeks to educate his son by saying, “No, Karl, you won’t get that,” he is more likely to succeed in making the boy dislike him than in achieving the positive effect that could be gained by denying his wishes. One might ask: What should one do in such a case? — There is a very simple remedy: one does not deny the pupil’s wishes, but rather denies oneself, yet in such a way that the pupil becomes aware that one is denying oneself this or that. Now, during the first seven years of life—and even later as an aftereffect—there is a strong impulse to imitate, and we will see that if, in the presence of those we are educating, we clearly deny ourselves this or that, they will imitate us—even if perhaps unconsciously—and come to regard it as something desirable. In this way, we will achieve something of immense significance.

[ 21 ] Thus we see that our thoughts need only be properly guided and directed by what Spiritual Science provides us. Then Spiritual Science will not merely be theory; it will become wisdom for living—truly something that sustains and guides us through life.

[ 22 ] A very important means of strengthening the ego’s control over the astral body is what can be learned from the two public lectures I have given here. The distinctive feature of these two lectures was that they presented both the arguments for and against a given matter. If you now examine how people approach life with their souls, you will see that most of the time, when they act or think, they actually always say only what can be said for or against a matter. That is the norm. But there is not a single thing in life for which there is an absolute for or against, not a single thing. For everything there is a for and an against; and for all things it is good if we get into the habit of treating them in such a way that we take into account not only one side but also the other, not only the for or the against, but the for and the against. Even with the things we do, it is good to ask ourselves why we would be better off refraining from them under certain circumstances, or at the very least, to realize that there are also reasons against them. Vanity and selfishness often speak against citing the counterarguments for something one wants to do, for people are all too eager to be seen as good people; and one can truly prove oneself to be a good person by doing only what has many merits and refraining from what has any drawbacks. It is somewhat uncomfortable that one can actually find much to object to in almost everything one does in life. For one is not at all—I say this because it is extraordinarily important for life—not at all as good as one believes. But this general truth only serves a purpose if, in the individual things one does—even when one does them because life demands them—one also keeps in mind what might lead to refraining from them. You can visualize what this achieves in the following simple way: You have certainly already encountered people who are so weak-willed that they would actually prefer not to make any decisions themselves at all, but would always like someone else to make the decision for them, leaving them only to carry out what they are supposed to do. They shift the responsibility, as it were, preferring to ask what they should do rather than finding the reasons for this or that action themselves. Now, I do not cite this case in order to present it as significant in and of itself at this moment, but to gain something else.

[ 23 ] Let’s take a person like that, who likes to ask others for advice—though this can also be interpreted to mean that what I have said is something against which much can be argued, yet much can also be said in its favor; one can hardly say anything in life without it being refutable in some way—let’s take such a person who likes to ask others for advice. He is faced with two people who give him advice on the same matter. One says: Yes, do that—the other says: Don’t do it!—Then we will see in life that one advisor wins a decisive victory over the other. The one with the stronger will wins the day with his opinion and influences the person asking. What kind of phenomenon are we actually dealing with here? As insignificant as it may seem, it is a highly significant phenomenon. When I am faced with two people, one of whom says yes and the other no, and I act on the yes, the will of one advisor continues to work within me; his strength of will has asserted itself to such an extent that it empowered me to act. His strength of will has triumphed over the will of the other advisor; thus, the strength of one person has prevailed within me. Suppose for a moment: if I am not now facing two other people, one of whom says “yes” and the other “no,” but if I stand there all alone and present the “yes” or “no” to myself in my own heart, giving myself the reasons for it—if no one else comes to me, but I give myself the reasons for the “yes” or “no”— and then go and carry them out because I have said yes to myself, then this has unleashed a powerful force, but now within myself. What the other person used to exert within me, I have now done myself and thereby developed a strength in my soul. So that when one faces a choice internally, one allows a strength to triumph over a weakness. And this is immensely important because it in turn strengthens the ego’s dominion over the astral body in a truly tremendous way. This is something that should not be regarded as an inconvenience: to seriously weigh the pros and cons in every single case where it is possible to do so. One will see that one does a great deal to strengthen one’s will when one seeks to carry out in this way what has just been described.

[ 24 ] But there is also a downside to this: namely, that instead of strengthening one’s will, it can lead to a weakening if, after having weighed the reasons for or against a matter within oneself, one then—instead of acting under the influence of one reason or the other—does nothing at all out of laziness, following neither one reason nor the other. One has then seemingly followed the “no,” but in reality one has merely been lazy. It will be good—if one takes Spiritual Science into account to this degree—not to engage in such a weighing of the pros and cons when one is tired, and not to make a decision when one is in any way weary, but to wait until one feels strong enough and knows: You are not weary now; you can truly follow what you set before your soul as pros and cons. So one must take care of oneself so that one sets such things before one’s soul at the right time.

[ 25 ] Furthermore, among the things that most effectively strengthen the dominion of our ego over our astral body is the rejection of everything in our soul that creates a barrier between us and the rest of the world, between us and our surroundings; this should be one of the obligations that the anthroposophist imposes upon himself. This does not mean one should avoid justified criticism; if the criticism is objective, it would naturally be a weakness to pass off the bad as good. One should not do that at all. But one must learn to distinguish between what one criticizes for its own sake and what one finds uncomfortable and complains about because of its influence on one’s own personality. The more one can accustom oneself to making one’s judgment—especially of our fellow human beings—independent of the way they treat us, the better it is for strengthening our ego in relation to its dominion over the astral body. Not to pat oneself on the back and say: “You are a good person if you do not criticize your fellow human beings”—but rather to strengthen one’s ego, it is good to impose upon oneself the renunciation of finding fault with things that one finds objectionable solely because they are unpleasant to oneself, and, particularly in the realm of judging others, to pass judgment only where one is not oneself a party to the matter. One will find that this seems easy as a theoretical principle, but that it is extraordinarily difficult to put into practice in life. It is good, for example, to restrain one’s antipathy toward a person who has lied to you. It is not a matter of going to others and telling them that he has lied to us, but rather of holding back the feeling of antipathy. What we can observe about a person from time to time—how their own actions align—we can certainly use to form a judgment about them. If someone speaks one way at one time and another way at another, then we need only compare what they themselves say; then we have a completely different basis for judging them than if we focus solely on their behavior toward us. It is important to let things speak for themselves and not to judge people by individual actions, but by how their actions align. One will find that even in the case of someone one considers a complete scoundrel, who never does anything but evil, one will find much in such a person that contradicts what he otherwise does. We need not even consider his behavior toward us; one can set aside one’s own perspective and place the person before one’s soul in his own behavior, if it is at all necessary to pass judgment on him. It is good for strengthening the self to reflect on the fact that we can refrain from making a large portion—nine-tenths—of the judgments we pass in all cases. If one experiences in one’s soul only one-tenth of the judgments one passes on the world, that is more than enough for life. The life of the soul is in no way impaired by our refraining from passing the remaining nine-tenths of the judgments.

[ 26 ] Today I have cited what may seem like trivialities; but it must also be our task, from time to time, to consider such things. For it is precisely through such things that we can see how the small is great in its effects, how, so to speak, we must approach life from entirely different angles if we wish to keep our physical bodies healthy and strong—in a way different from how it is usually approached. It is not always right to say that when someone is sick, one should send them to the pharmacy, where they will find the right medicine they need. — The right thing will be to organize one’s entire life in such a way that people are less prone to illness in the first place, or that illnesses are less burdensome. They will be less burdensome if, through such small exercises, a person strengthens the influence of the ego on the astral body, of the astral body on the etheric body, and of the etheric body on the physical body. Self-education and influence on education are things that can arise from our fundamental anthroposophical convictions.