ABSTRACT
The word "creativity" is derived from the Latin word creare, meaning "to bring forth, produce, make, beget". It is closely related to the word crescere, which we will translate as "to arise, become, be born, come forth". Developmental psychologists and psychoanalysts see a basic model of creative behavior in the play of children. Creativity researchers like Mark Runco have worked out specific modes of thinking that are beneficial to creativity: fluent, associative, divergent, and original. Goethe's thinking was certainly fluent, and he made associative connections between ideas starting at a young age. Modern research in the area of psychotherapy has given the term "mentalization" for the ability to understand the thoughts, feelings, and actions of one's own self and others. The wish to mentalize was an essential element of Goethe's ability and necessity to work creatively. Goethe's talents, skills, motivations and personality traits became evident during his childhood.
