Your favorite occupation? Pondering and musing.Your idea of happiness? Pondering and musing.Your most extreme aversion? Pedantry and a sense of order.Of what are you afraid? Punctuality.

These quotations are from a questionnaire filled in by a young man in his late twenties. That person, Rudolf Steiner, would later initiate the path of Anthroposophy. Toward the end of his lie, Steiner wrote his Autobiography, though its completion was interrupted by his untimely death.

This book is an essential complement to Steiner's unfinished Autobiography. It gathers a wealth of personal testimonies--including lectures, résumés, notebook entries, a questionnaire, as well as biographical notes he wrote for Édouard Schuré--much of which has not been previously published in English.

The various materials, together with rare photographs, have been expertly collated and introduced by Walter Kugler.

C O N T E N T S

Introduction by Walter Kugler: "Having an Understanding for Life"

Childhood to Scholarship 1861-93An autobiographical lecture, Berlin, Feb. 4, 1913

Early Childhood 1861-68An autobiographical fragment, undated

Curriculum vitae 1861-91Enclosed with the doctorate application, Aug 6, 1892

Twenty-four Questions to Rudolf Steiner and His Personal RepliesQuestionnaire, Weimar 1892

Transitions 1861-1906 An autobiographical sketch for Édouard Schuré at Barr, Alsace, Sept. 1907

From University Days to the Founding of the Anthroposophical Society 1879-1913An autobiographical fragment, undated

A Vision (around 1884)An extract from the talk given at Kassel, May 10, 1914, in memory of Maria Strauch-Spettini

Notes