222 Kant: A BiographyThe choice of entrees was also important to Kant. Nothing too fancy,
the meat well-done, good bread, and good wine. During his early years he
preferred red wine, late in life he liked white wine better. He loved to eat
at a leisurely pace, and, if he liked a particular dish, he inquired about the
recipe and how it was prepared. But he was also free with his criticism.
Hippel later joked that "sooner or later he would be writing a Critique of
the Art of Cooking."^129
His daily schedule then looked something like this. He got up at 5:00 A.M.
His servant Martin Lampe, who worked for him from at least 1762 until
1802, would wake him. The old soldier was under orders to be persistent,
so that Kant would not sleep longer. Kant was proud that he never got up
even half an hour late, even though he found it hard to get up early. It ap¬
pears that during his earlier years, he did sleep in at times. After getting up,
Kant would drink one or two cups of tea — weak tea. With that, he smoked
a pipe of tobacco. The time he needed for smoking it "was devoted to med¬
itation." Apparently, Kant had formulated the maxim for himself that he
would smoke only one pipe, but it is reported that the bowls of his pipes
increased considerably in size as the years went on. He then prepared his
lectures and worked on his books until 7:00. His lectures began at 7:00, and
they would last until 11:00. With the lectures finished, he worked again on
his writings until lunch. Go out to lunch, take a walk, and spend the rest
of the afternoon with his friend Green. After going home, he would do some
more light work and read.
This was the "peaceful situation that is exactly fitted to my needs: in turn
occupied with work, speculation, and society." It was a regular or even
regulated way of life, but it was hardly mechanical. Lecturing, writing, and
reading were interrupted by conversation, relaxation, and even play. No
doubt, Green's influence had had its effect. Kant's "character" had begun
to form. It was characterized by his "constant striving to act in accor¬
dance with thought-out maxims, which — at least in his opinion — were well
founded principles, and by his eagerness to formulate maxims in all the
greater and smaller, more and less important matters, from which he al¬
ways began and to which he always returned."^130 His "maximized" life
was not — at least not at this point — disadvantageous to his work or life. In¬
deed, his life according to maxims seems to have made both his work and
his life more pleasant. They contributed to the smooth and regular flow of
his life that he valued over everything.
It was very much like the "life of the skilled artisan" or craftsman that
Dohm idealized as "the most happy one possible in our civil society." Like