Each individual portrayed in this book may, beyond his unique nature, be considered representative of one or several aspects of human nature and human striving, and for the obstacles such striving must encounter.

Goethe displays the struggle for universal moral, scientific, and artistic values throughout lifetimes, bridging and linking whole ages.

Nietzsche is perhaps the representative of the new faculty of inspiration and the challenge to complement it by intuition.

Oscar Wilde represents the stage of soul development at which insight into the...