What do you know about Goethe? And Schiller? Dates and facts are often quickly forgotten – but these portraits, sketched with a lively, knowledgeable hand, stay in your mind. That is because Otto A. Böhmer turns his gaze on the writers' souls, on the very source of their inspiration. Inspiration is the »light of a wonderful insight« (Descartes), »with which there can be no choice, no improvement and no messing around« (Thomas Mann), »you listen, you do not seek, you take, you do not ask who is giving« (Friedrich Nietzsche). The inspirations which form the focus of this book often turn out to be unspectacular. They result almost incidentally from moods and experiences and yet become recognisable with hindsight as the initial spark for actions and works.