This forced, pomp-filled, literary modesty, so much to the taste of the praise-seekers, has nothing to do with modesty and looks more like vanity. Virtue, if authentic, is spontaneous. Simulated humility pleases as much as a false note. That said, the sympathy that true modesty can inspire is remarkable. Such is the case in these admirable Conversations of Goethe by Eckermann. From the very beginning, the author introduces himself to us with utterly unpretentious simplicity. He tells us succinctly and without dramatizing his origins, and conducts the work with a sincerity worthy of the highest appreciation. It is to be regretted that, even so, it has been shot through with ironies. But true virtue is inevitably envied by those who lack it. Eckermann is humble, simply humble, and his lines are pleasing, above all, because of the naturalness with which they present elevated themes. For form and content, it is a work worthy of the most sincere praise.
Conversations of Goethe, by Eckermann
