Editing Christian Morgenstern (section)

== Essays, reviews and aphorisms==
In his early years Christian Morgenstern wrote a considerable number of essays and reviews for various German periodicals. They have been collected together and published in Volume 6 (Kritische Schriften, 1987) of the German collected works of Morgenstern. His philosophical and mythical works were largely influenced by the philosopher [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], the Austrian educationalist [[Rudolf Steiner]] (the originator of [[anthroposophy]] and the [[Waldorf school]] movement), and the Russian writers [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky]] and [[Leo Tolstoy]].

Perhaps Morgenstern's most philosophical volume is a collection of aphorisms published posthumously in 1918 entitled ''Stufen: Eine Entwickelung in Aphorismen und Tagebuch-Notizen'' (Stages: A Development in Aphorisms and Diary Notes). It has given rise to a number of celebrated quotations. These include:
* "Home isn't where our house is, but wherever we are understood."
* "I shall excavate the strata of my soul."
* "I'm a man of limits: forever physically, emotionally, morally and artistically on the brink of plunging into the abyss. Yet I manage to keep my balance and possess presence of mind."
* "I bear no treasures within me. I only possess the power to transform much of what I touch into something of value. I have no depths, save my incessant desire for the depths." (Translated by David W. Wood)