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Helga Zepp-LaRouche        

Helga Zepp-LaRouche
Speaks to 20th Anniversary
Schiller Celebrations

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Helga Zepp-LaRouche Speaks to 20th
Anniversary Schiller Celebrations

Speaking to a birthday celebration for Poet of Freedom Friedrich Schiller in Germany in mid-November, Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp LaRouche pointed to the tragic condition of the world today: the re-election of George Bush, the disastrous Iraq war, the worldwide economic breakdown crisis, accompanied by new and brutal austerity measures, and the increasingly dangerous strategic policies of the financial oligarchy.

She noted that such a situation induces fear, which tends to make people small and passive. "That's why Schiller's ideas are so important today," she explained. "No other poet could uplift people to the level of the sublime in such a powerful way as Schiller, and turn little people into greater people."

On November 19, 2004, Mrs. LaRouche addressed more than 1,000 people who came to the theater of the LaSalle University of the Northeast in Sonora, Mexico to participate in the First Regional Meeting of Choruses, organized by the Schiller Institute, as one event among the many international celebrations of our 20th anniversary. The choral event involved the children and youth choirs of the Schiller Institute of Sonora and Baja California, as well as the chorus of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa and six choruses from educational institutions of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora. The event was inaugurated by the wife of the municipal president.

In her greetings to the event, Helga Zepp LaRouche again emphasized the importance of Schiller's optimistic view of man for today, which is that every person has the potential to become a beautiful soul. She said:

"When I was girl, the concept was very dear to me. It means that you have to work all your life to become a beautiful soul. Nowadays, people, also young people, pay a lot of attention to having beautiful bodies, but actually, it is much more important to make sure your soul is beautiful. Schiller says, every man has an ideal man within himself, and it is the great task of his life to bring the ideal man within him into conformity with his real personality. For this, Schiller says, it is important not only to educate your mind, but also your emotions, until you can blindly trust your instinct, because it will never tell you something different, than what your reason commands.

"A beautiful soul is such a person, for whom freedom and necessity, passion and duty are all the same thing. Such a beautiful soul will naturally become a world historical individual, who takes responsibility for the destiny of his or her nation, and mankind as a whole. A beautiful soul is also capable to act in moments of crisis on the level of the sublime. What Schiller means by this is the following:

"A human being has a mind, which enables him, unlike all other creatures of cognition, to discover universal ideas, which can improve the living conditions for the whole population. But man is not a spirit; he is also a creature of the senses. But if people put their identity in that, in the realm of the senses, if they only seek pleasure in the here and now, then any danger makes them fearful. Because as physical beings, they are vulnerable. If they only have an identity of physical beings, their self-preservation drive makes them run away if a danger arises.

"But fear turns people into slaves. It takes away their freedom of self-determination. Therefore, Schiller says, human beings must locate their identity in a quality, that is beyond the realm of the physical existence; that is, in principles that are universal and immortal. If people locate their sense of identity in principles, which go beyond their own mortal life, they can participate in true immortality, and even if this does not guarantee their physical security, it gives them moral security, making them free and their souls immortal.

"In my view, Schiller is the best and most noble poet in Germany And beyond, and if I succeeded in making you curious enough, so that you wish to read him personally yourself, I will be very happy."

Twenty Years of Making History with the Power of Classical Art

Article from The New Federalist
(Vol XVIII No. 50, Dec. 20, 2004)

Dec. 14 (EIRNS)—More than one thousand people came to the theater of the Lasalle University of the Northeast in Sonora, Mexico Nov. 19, to participate in the “First Regional Meeting of Choruses,” organized by the Schiller Institute as part of its 20th anniversary celebrations. The choral event, involving more than 250 children and 80 older youth, from the Mexican northwestern states of Sonora, Baja California and Sinaloa, was inaugurated by the wife of the mayor of Ciudad Obregon, which city hosted the celebration.

In her welcome to the gathering, Schiller Institute coordinator Mayra Ruiz de Vizcarra, stressed that “twenty years after Mrs. Helga Zepp-LaRouche launched the initiative to give life to this international institution, our founding principles retain an extraordinary relevance: the establishment of a new economic order based on technological progress, peace and justice, as well as a new cultural renaissance, are the urgent necessities of a humanity threatened by war and by the criteria of an economic policy that has turned its back on man, and made money an icon of pagan worship.”

At moments like this, said Ruiz de Vizcarra, music, drama and classical poetry represent a unique source of optimism, strength and power. In these, she said, “man discovers his condition of being human. In the study of, and by participating in the classical arts, the individual goes through the intellectual and emotional experience of learning he has a soul. This gives him a sense of immortality and prepares him to undertake a mission that transcends the limits of his mortal existence. He has the emotional and intellectual certainty to be able to say, 'I am a human being, not an animal. I am created in the image and likeness of God.' ”

Message from Helga LaRouche

Ana Linda Ruiz de Martinez, director of the Schiller Institute and leader of the Schiller Institute youth choirs in Sonora, then read a message sent by Schiller Institute president Helga Zepp-LaRouche, which said in part: “Today you are celebrating a joyful event, our twentieth aniversary. We can proudly look to five continents of the globe, where the Schiller Institute has developed as the moral and cultural counterpole to the threat of the global synarchist forces. Why did I choose the name of Friedrich Schiller for this fight for a new world economic order and a new cultural renaissance?... The most important thing is the extremely optimistic image of man Schiller has, namely the idea that every person has the potential to become a beautiful soul....

“Schiller says, every man has an ideal man within himself, and it is the great task of his life to bring the ideal man within him into conformity with his real personality. For this, Schiller says, it is important not only to educate your mind, but also your emotions, until you can blindly trust your instinct, because it will never tell you something different, than what your reason commands. A beautiful soul is such a person, for whom freedom and necessity, passion and duty are all the same thing. Such a beautiful soul will naturally become a world historic individual, who takes responsibility for the destiny of his or her nation, and mankind as whole.”

Another Success

On Dec. 10, another concert was held by the Schiller Institute in the Sonoran city of Ciudad Obregon, at the University of Sonora in that city. The crowd, which included state and local government officials, teachers, parents, community leaders and more, overflowed the available 500 seats in the University theater.

The concert, performed by 55 members of the Schiller children's choir and joined by 15 more from the University's own children's choir, performed a variety of choral and solo pieces, ranging from classical Christmas carols to an aria from a Bach cantata.


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