(July 22, 2019 / By Jorge / Photo: Jorge Ibanez

There is a Goethe quote that has circulated for quite some time in the internet and in self-help circles, that Wanda and I embraced from a long time ago and held on to in moments of challenges and tribulations. It is really a combination of quotes:

“At the moment of commitment the entire universe conspires to assist you.”

Followed by its corollary “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!”

Powerful advice, indeed.

The adherence to these quotes come from our belief from early on conversations as nubile literature majors back in the day, that life has no intrinsic meaning. Discussing the so called meaning of life was, we decided, a romantic dilettante trope for café philosophers, shallow thinking pastors and conniving politicians. In that order. And there we were, in a Let-me-serve-you-the-worst-coffee-you-will-ever-drink Café at the corner of Gándara and Ponce de León discussing the meaningless of life. We were 21. And had just discovered Sartre.

Like atheists discussing the non-existence of God.

But before you think this was kind of a negative nihilistic attitude, it was not. On the contrary, putting it front and center in our understanding of what our life together was going to entail (we were basically at that point where you are checking the other out and negotiating compromises…), freed us to pull our fortunes together, go forth and suck that damn oyster with gusto. And we packed up and went out to explore life. With baby in tow.

I personally take this view and tail corollaries one step further, in my struggle for mindfulness, paying attention. No, relax, not the much in vogue ‘mindfulness’ fad. Geez, one misstep and you can be diagnosed as freaking obsessive.

No, it is my understanding that we have one chance to see the morning light over that track of 23th avenue between 43rd street and 83rd street, the only <em>rolling hills</em> in Gainesville, and then one day it will end forever. You won’t even have the memory to relish. I remind myself frequently of this, <em>‘memento mori’</em>. And I have to because I have a tendency to drift away in thoughts at the least provocation, there is a bit of A.D.D. that runs in my side of the family. And of romantic contemplation. So, I frequently catch myself calling myself back: “Jorge, pay attention!”  Contemplation should always be in the service of action. And I come back and take in that beautiful pink light filtering through the waiving tree branches. It works, you should try it. Talk to yourself sometime, it is not as bad as it has been made to be.

So, in my concern for one day finding myself fluttering through life while hiding my incapacity-to-commit behind the label of ‘exploration’, I tend to turn interests into ‘series’. That is, let’s say I am working on developing my printing skills, well let’s do a series of block prints with the same subject and really ‘explore’ the medium. Family would be a good subject. I like baking. So, let’s commit to a different bread every Sunday. Let’s make it from different countries, to up the ante (which is really funny, since I have a diabetic predisposition and avoid eating bread!). It takes me through the year committed to a goal, focused on a prize. Don’t leave good enough alone. That was the worst advice anyone gave you.

It works. Commit. To anything. Be human.

Now, about those quotes that have been so central in my life and my relation with the Queen of the Universe.

It happens that Goethe never said either. Isn’t that a riot?

The first part is a paraphrased line from William Hutchinson Murray (1913-1996), from his 1951 book entitled <em>The Scottish Himalayan Expedition</em>. The original line said: ‘that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.’ Then the internet and the Marianne Williamsons of the world took over and the rest is history.

So, how did it get attributed to Goethe? Well, that is where it gets interestingly convoluted and the second ‘quote’ comes in. At the end of this passage, Bill adds: “I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets:

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!”

Well, it is definitely a beautiful and empowering quote. But Goethe never said that either. It is good-old Bill’s very loose paraphrase of something Goethe may have said somewhere or Bill heard someone said he did. And I say ‘very loose’ and ‘may have said’ because honest to God no one has been able to find that couplet. Not saying that Billy was lying…

But the thing is that at that moment Goethe’s name joined the fracas and the whole thing, float hook and sinker was attributed to Goethe, including in some sources the whole passage where both supposed quotes are supposedly set. It is impossible to know who the first ‘misattributor’ may have been by now. Someone creative and with good intentions, I am sure. But quoting the quoter that quoted the quoter, the whole misattribution within the misattribution took its own persona and reality.

And, surely, relevance and validity. Hey, I’ll take it….

Ready? Set? Go forth!