George Steiner
A grateful wanderer
Transcript
YOLANDA’S PHILOSOPHY (My mother-in-law)
Yolanda:
My father taught me: “Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.” I still think about that when dealing with others. How would I like to be treated myself?
In the 1980s, fate struck my family… there were many unexpected dead, some in freak accidents, all within a few years. At the same time, I dealt with sickness, problems at work and in my marriage…
Step up to the plate! Less talking, more acting! became my motto.
Let’s remember to pay extra attention to the good things in life - like music, a good glass of wine, good company.
In 1989 I saw a documentary about a writer who appealed to me a lot…":
GEORGE STEINER (23 April 1929 - 3 February 2020)
Steiner’s parents (Frederick and Elise) fled Vienna for Paris in 1924, due to growing anti-semitism, with their daughter Ruth. There, in April 1929, their son George was born.
He is handicapped: his right arm is under-developed.
Mother: Self-pity makes me sick! You’ll learn to tie your shoes and write with your rught hand just like everyone else!
He was taught three languages by his parents, who raised him with the Classics.
Young Steiner: Father, lesen Sie die Iliad with me ce soir, s’il vous plaît?
The family fled to New Yrk in 1940, a month before the Germans took Paris.
He studied literature, math and physics in Chicago, Harvard and Oxford.
Steiner: I’m more interested in a broad education than in specialization!
In 1955 he married Zara Shakow.
Their professors: You we me a tenner! I told you they were made for each other! Two such brilliant and dedicated students!
He taught at various universities in Europe and America.
Students: I love how he talks about literature and culture! He is a critic, but not a pessimist!
He was an esteemed culture critic, with survival as a central theme in his thinking.
Steiner: My life is about death, remembrance, the Holocaust… Trees have roots and I have legs, I owe my life to that! Read books, memorize things - no one can take that away from you!
George Steiner died in 2020 in Cambridge, England, ninety years old. His wife died ten days later.
Steiner: My father used to say: “When there’s no one left in Europe with the name Steiner, Hitler will have won after all!”
—
Yolanda: One of Steiner’s ideas is to always have a suitcase ready. And so do I! Prepared for anything!
I like the fact that his philosophy is not a pessimistic one, despite all its gravity.
Steiner called himself a “grateful wanderer” - and aren’t we all?
Grateful wanderers in a world that is at the same time terrible and beautiful?
Questions
Do you think one can choose to be optimistic in the face of adversity, or is that a matter of genes and character?
If you would prepare a suitcase in case you had to flee at some point, what would be in it?
Do you think you could feel grateful, even when dreadful things happened to your family? What would you be grateful for?
Original pages
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Steiner expressed most eloquently what many of his generation understood, that man is capable of both wonder and horror. Also like many of his generation, that suitcase waiting by the door is as much a practical matter as a philosophical one. And practically, he also understood that the brightest flame of civilization had to be carefully tended, not just to keep away the darkness. but to keep from raging into a bonfire that would consume itself. My fear is we may be seeing again wha happens when we desist in the careful tending of that flame.
These are great. While I’ve never dug much into Steiner, I feel compelled to do so now. Thx