David Klaus

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David Klaus, book illustration by Ludwig Buchhorn , 1796

David Klaus (* 1718 in Halberstadt ; † July 2, 1793 ibid) was a German shepherd and philosopher.

Life

All information about David Klaus, including his sayings, comes from the descriptions of his life that the Halberstadt Lutheran cathedral preacher Johann Werner Streithorst published about him in 1793 and 1796. Streithorst added a poem to the moral book of 1796 with the title Das Lied von David Klaus. To sing at his annual death feast , in which he stylized Klaus in the Rousseauian sense as the archetype of the natural wise men and saints of the common people.

Accordingly, David Klaus was born as the son of a shepherd and later also became a monastery shepherd in Halberstadt and reader in the poor house.

He attended the community school, where he learned to read and write, and his thirst for knowledge was aroused there. During his activity as a shepherd in the service of the Nicolai Monastery of the Dominican Sisters , he acquired around 1,200 books in the course of time up to his death, which he took with him to study in the field.

When he got older, he went to the Georgen Hospital and earned some money by chopping wood so that he could continue to buy books, and read to the residents in the poor house.

In his book studies he dealt with mysticism . His favorite writers were Christian Hoburg , Johann Wilhelm Petersen , Jakob Böhme , Valentin Weigel and Gottfried Arnold . He also read philosophical and historical literature and acquired the Berleburg Bible , for which he paid two years' salary; later he bought a second copy for his sick sister. To translate from Latin and Greek , he had bought a lexicon and translated in self-study. By reading the books he came to his own views on religion and life, which he summarized in a proverb that was published after his death.

He also tried to spread the book culture among the common people by giving books away or reselling them below the purchase price.

Excerpts from his collection of sayings

  • Good books are like guides on a journey .
  • It is true that you can learn a lot from books, but not all that you need to know. Those who do not want to think for themselves will never be smart.
  • What use is the most beautiful religious name, Christian, Protestant, etc., if the deed is missing?
  • In religious matters one does not have to blindfold anyone, but rather lay everything clearly in front of their eyes.
  • Anyone who does not feel like doing a good thing today will hardly find pleasure in it tomorrow.
  • Christ did not say: Go and use force, but: Go and teach all peoples.
  • Overcoming yourself is the best victory.
  • Bad people actually make the bad times.
  • No matter how low and low one is, one can still acquire wisdom, and one has great treasure in it if one is equally poor.
  • We do not deny the body food; why the soul?
  • If someone knew today that he would die tomorrow, how well he would use today! But it could be that tomorrow would be your last day!
  • Don't talk about someone more than you can tell to their face.
  • Tomorrow is always the lazy day and today is his day of rest.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ manners book S. 67-184
  2. ↑ digitized version
  3. ^ Blessig Foundation (Strasburg): Monthly sheets of the Blessig Foundation. Published by FW Edel . 1850, p. 282 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
personal data
SURNAME Klaus, David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH 1718
PLACE OF BIRTH Halberstadt
DATE OF DEATH July 2, 1793
Place of death Halberstadt