Human, All Too Human

thumb|Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today. Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits is a book by 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, originally published in 1878. A second part, Assorted Opinions and Maxims (Vermischte Meinungen und Sprüche), was published in 1879, and a third part, The Wanderer and his Shadow (Der Wanderer und sein Schatten), followed in 1880. The book is Nietzsche's first in the aphoristic style that would come to dominate his writings, discussing a variety of concepts in short paragraphs or sayings. Reflecting an admiration of Voltaire as a free thinker, but also a break in his friendship with composer Richard Wagner two years earlier, Nietzsche dedicated the original 1878 edition of Human, All Too Human “to the memory of Voltaire on the celebration of the anniversary of his death, May 30, 1778.” Instead of a preface, the first part originally included a quotation from Descartes' Discourse on the Method. Nietzsche later republished all three parts as a two-volume edition in 1886, adding a preface to each volume, and removing the Descartes quote as well as the dedication to Voltaire. Quotes thumb|One will rarely err if extreme actions be ascribed to vanity, ordinary actions to habit, and mean actions to fear. Preface Often enough, and always with great consternation, people have told me that there is something distinctive in all my writings...All of them, I have been told, contain snares and nets for careless birds, and an almost constant, unperceived challenge to reverse one's habitual estimations and esteemed habits. "What's that? Everything is only—human, all too human?" § 1, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann ... das Leben ist nun einmal nicht von der Moral ausgedacht. ... life is, after all, not a product of morality. § 1, tr. R. J. Hollingdale It is still a long way from this morbid isolation, from the desert of these experimental years, to that enormous, overflowing certainty and health which cannot do without even illness itself, as an instrument and fishhook of knowledge; to that mature freedom of the spirit which is fully as much self-mastery and discipline of the heart, and which permits paths to many opposing ways of thought. It is a long way to inner spaciousness and cosseting of a superabundance which precludes the danger and the sprit might lose itself on its own paths and fall in love and stay put, intoxicated, in some nook; a long way to that excess of vivid healing, reproducing, reviving power, the very sign of great health, an excess that gives free spirit the dangerous privilege of being permitted to live experimentally. § 4, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today. § 7, tr. Alexander Harvey Part I 1. Of First and Last Things Esteeming Humble Truths. It is the sign of a higher culture to esteem more highly the little, humble truths, those discovered by a strict method, rather than the gladdening and dazzling error that originate in metaphysical and artistic ages and men. At first, one has scorn on his lips for humble truths, as if they could offer no match for the others: they stand so modest, simple, sober, even apparently discouraging, while the other truths are so beautiful, splendid, enchanting, or even enrapturing. But truths that are hard won, certain, enduring, and therefore still of consequence for all further knowledge are the higher; to keep to them i many and shows bravery, simplicity, restraint. Eventually, not only the individual, but all mankind will be elevated to this manliness when men finally grow accustomed to the greater esteem for durable, lasting knowledge and have lost all belief in sinpiration and a seemingly miraculous communication of truths. Aphorism 3, tr. Marion Faber, with Stephen Lehmann Here lies the antagonism between the individual regions of science and philosophy. The latter wants, as art does, to bestow on life and action the greatest possible profundity and significance; in the former one seeks knowledge and nothing further -- and does in fact acquire it. Aphorism 6, tr. R. J. Hollingdale So weiss jeder aus Erfahrung, wie schnell der Traeumende einen starken an ihn dringenden Ton, zum Beispiel Glockenlaeuten, Kanonenschuesse in seinen Traum verflicht, das heisst aus ihm hinterdrein erklaert, so dass er zuerst die veranlassenden Umstaende, dann jenen Ton zu erleben meint. Everyone knows from experience how fast the dreamer can incorporate into his dream a loud sound he hears, bell ringing, for example, or cannon fire, how he can explain it after the fact from his dream, so that he believes he is experiencing first the occasioning factors, and then that sound. Aphorism 13, tr. Marion Faber, with Stephen Lehmann Das Traumdenken wird uns jetzt so leicht, weil wir in ungeheuren Entwickelungsstrecken der Menschheit gerade auf diese Form des phantastischen und wohlfeilen Erklaerens aus dem ersten beliebigen Einfalle heraus so gut eingedrillt worden sind. Insofern ist der Traum eine Erholung fuer das Gehirn, welches am Tage den strengeren Anforderungen an das Denken zu genuegen hat, wie sie von der hoeheren Cultur gestellt werden. Dream-thought is so easy for us now because, during mankind's immense periods of development, we have been so well drilled in just this form of fantastic and cheap explanation from the first, best idea. In this way dreaming is recuperation for a brain which must satisfy by day the stricter demands made on thought by higher culture. Aphorism 13, tr. Marion Faber, with Stephen Lehmann Allem Glauben zu Grunde liegt die Empfindung des Angenehmen oder Schmerzhaften in Bezug auf das empfindende Subject. Eine neue dritte Empfindung als Resultat zweier vorangegangenen einzelnen Empfindungen ist das Urtheil in seiner niedrigsten Form. All belief is based on the feeling of pleasure or pain in relation to the feeling subject. A new, third feeling as the result of two preceeding feelings is judgement in its lowest form. Aphorism 18, tr. Marion Faber, with Stephen Lehmann Ein wesentlicher Nachtheil, welchen das Aufhoeren metaphysischer Ansichten mit sich bringt, liegt darin, dass das Individuum zu streng seine kurze Lebenszeit in's Auge fasst und keine staerkeren Antriebe empfaengt, an dauerhaften, fuer Jahrhunderte angelegten Institutionen zu bauen. One crucial disadvantage about the end of metaphysical views is that the individual looks his own short life span too squarely in the eye and feels no strong incentive to build on enduring institutions, designed for the ages. Aphorism 22, tr. Marion Faber, with Stephen Lehmann Man glaubt einer Philosophie etwas Gutes nachzusagen, wenn man sie als Ersatz der Religion fuer das Volk hinstellt. One thinks he is speaking well of philosophy when he presents it as a substitute religion for the people. Aphorism 27, tr. Marion Faber, with Stephen Lehmann Der Irrthum hat den Menschen so tief, zart, erfinderisch gemacht, eine solche Bluethe, wie Religionen und Kuenste, herauszutreiben. Das reine Erkennen waere dazu ausser Stande gewesen. Error has made man so deep, delicate, inventive as to bring forth such blossoms as religion and arts. Pure knowledge would never have been capable of it. Aphorism 29, tr. Marion Faber, with Stephen Lehmann 2. On the History of Moral Feelings Ohne die Irrthuemer, welche in den Annahmen der Moral liegen, waere der Mensch Thier geblieben. So aber hat er sich als etwas Hoeheres genommen und sich strengere Gesetze auferlegt. Er hat desshalb einen Hass gegen die der Thierheit naeher gebliebenen Stufen. Without the errors inherent in the postulates of morality, man would have remained an animal. But as it is he has taken himself to be something higher and has imposed stricter laws upon himself. He therefore has a hatred of those stages of man that remain closer to the animal state. Aphorism 40, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Die Kuerze des menschlichen Lebens verleitet zu manchen irrthuemlichen Behauptungen ueber die Eigenschaften des Menschen. The brevity of human life misleads us to many an erroneous assertion about the qualities of mans feelings. Aphorism 41, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Die Menschen, welche jetzt grausam sind, muessen uns als Stufen frueherer Culturen gelten, welche uebrig geblieben sind: das Gebirge der Menschheit zeigt hier einmal die tieferen Formationen, welche sonst versteckt liegen, offen. ... Sie zeigen uns, was wir Alle waren, und machen uns erschrecken: aber sie selber sind so wenig verantwortlich, wie ein Stueck Granit dafuer, dass es Granit ist. We must think of men who are cruel today as stages of earlier cultures, which have been left over ... They show us what we all were, and frighten us. But they themselves are as little responsible as a piece of granite for being granite. Aphorism 43, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Der Grund, wesshalb der Maechtige dankbar ist, ist dieser. Sein Wohlthaeter hat sich durch seine Wohlthat an der Sphaere des Maechtigen gleichsam vergriffen und sich in sie eingedraengt: nun vergreift er sich zur Vergeltung wieder an der Sphaere des Wohlthaeters durch den Act der Dankbarkeit. Es ist eine mildere Form der Rache. The powerful man feels gratitude for the following reason: through his good deed, his benefactor has, as it were, violated the powerful man's sphere and penetrated it. Now through his act of gratitude the powerful man requites himself by violating the sphere of the benefactor. It is a milder form of revenge. Aphorism 44, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Much more happiness is to be found in the world than gloomy eyes discover. Aphorism 49, tr. Alexander Harvey Freilich solle man Mitleiden bezeugen, aber sich hueten, es zu haben: denn die Ungluecklichen seien nun einmal so dumm, dass bei ihnen das Bezeugen von Mitleid das groesste Gut von der Welt ausmache. Of course one ought to express pity, but one ought to guard against having it; for unfortunate people are so stupid that they count the expression of pity as the greatest good on earth. das Mitleiden, welches Jene dann aeussern, ist insofern eine Troestung fuer die Schwachen und Leidenden, als sie daran erkennen, doch wenigstens noch Eine Macht zu haben, trotz aller ihrer Schwaeche: die Macht, wehe zu thun. The pity that the spectators then express consoles the weak and suffering, inasmuch as they see that, despite all their weakness, they still have at least one power: the power to hurt. Aphorism 50, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Note: The latter quote is part of a counter to the former Aber wird es viele Ehrliche geben, welche zugestehen, dass es Vergnuegen macht, wehe zu thun? But will there be many people honest enough to admit that it is a pleasure to inflict pain? Aphorism 50, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann thumb|Prosper Mérimée is right when he says, Sachez aussi qu'il n'y a rien de plus commun que de faire le mal pour le plaisir de le faire. [Know that nothing is more common than to do harm for the pleasure of doing it] But will there be many people honest enough to admit that it is a pleasure to inflict pain? That not infrequently one amuses himself (and well) by offending other men (at least in his thoughts) and by shooting pellets of petty malice at them? Most people are too dishonest, and a few men are too good, to know anything about this source of shame. So they may try to deny that Prosper Merimée is right when he says, Sachez aussi qu'il n'y a rien de plus commun que de faire le mal pour le plaisir de le faire. [Know that nothing is more common than to do harm for the pleasure of doing it] Aphorism 50, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Einer der gewoehnlichen Fehlschluesse ist der: weil Jemand wahr und aufrichtig gegen uns ist, so sagt er die Wahrheit. One common false conclusion is that because someone is truthful and upright towards us he is speaking the truth. Aphorism 53, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann No power can maintain itself if only hypocrites represent it. Aphorism 55, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Isn't it clear that, in all these cases [of selflessness] man is loving something of himself, a thought, a longing, an offspring, more than something else of himself, that he is thus dividing up his being and sacrificing one part for the other? Aphorism 57, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Man kann Handlungen versprechen, aber keine Empfindungen; denn diese sind unwillkuerlich. Wer jemandem verspricht, ihn immer zu lieben oder immer zu hassen oder ihm immer treu zu sein, verspricht Etwas, das nicht in seiner Macht steht. One can promise actions, but not feelings, for the latter are involuntary. He who promises to love forever or hate forever or be forever faithful to someone is promising something that is not in his power. Aphorism 58, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann One must have a good memory to be able to keep the promises one makes. Aphorism 59, tr. Alexander Harvey Die Leidenschaft will nicht warten Passion doesn't want to wait. Aphorism 61, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann [V]ielleicht die allermeisten Menschen haben, um ihre Selbstachtung und eine gewisse Tuechtigkeit im Handeln bei sich aufrecht zu erhalten, durchaus noethig, alle ihnen bekannten Menschen in ihrer Vorstellung herabzusetzen und zu verkleinern. [P]erhaps the great majority of men find it necessary, in order to maintain their self respect and a certain effectiveness in their actions, to lower and belittle the image they form of everyone they know. Aphorism 63, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann If looks could kill, we would long ago have been done for. Aphorism 64, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Er erregte erst Anstoss, dann Verdacht, wurde allmaehlich geradezu erfehmt und in die Acht der Gesellschaft erklaert, bis endlich die Justiz sich eines so verworfenen Wesens erinnerte, bei Gelegenheiten, wo sie sonst kein Auge hatte, oder dasselbe zudrueckte. At first, he gave offense, then he awoke suspicion, and at length he was virtually ostracized and banished. Finally, justice remembered this depraved creature on occasions when it otherwise averted or winked its eye Aphorism 65, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann ... die Hoffnung: sie ist in Wahrheit das übelste der Übel, weil sie die Qual der Menschen verlängert. In truth, it [hope] is the most evil of evils because it prolongs man's torment. Aphorism 71, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Man wird selten irren, wenn man extreme Handlungen auf Eitelkeit, mittelmaessige auf Gewoehnung und kleinliche auf Furcht zurueckfuehrt. One will rarely err if extreme actions be ascribed to vanity, ordinary actions to habit, and mean actions to fear. Aphorism 74, tr. Alexander Harvey How poor the human mind would be without vanity! It resembles a well stocked and ever renewed ware-empo-rium that attracts buyers of every class: they can find almost everything, have almost everything, provided they bring with them the right kind of money — admiration. Aphorism 74, tr. Alexander Harvey [I]t is automatically assumed that the perpetrator and sufferer think and feel the same, and the guilt of one is therefore measured by the pain of the other. Aphorism 81, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Wenn die Tugend geschlafen hat, wird sie frischer aufstehen. When virtue has slept, she will get up more refreshed. Aphorism 83, tr. Walter Kaufmann Die Menschen schaemen sich nicht, etwas Schmutziges zu denken, aber wohl, wenn sie sich vorstellen, dass man ihnen diese schmutzigen Gedanken zutraue. Men are not ashamed to think something dirty, but they are ashamed when they imagine that others might believe them capable of these dirty thoughts. Aphorism 84, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Die meisten Menschen sind viel zu sehr mit sich beschaeftigt, um boshaft zu sein. Most men are much too concerned with themselves to be malicious. Aphorism 85, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Man lobt oder tadelt, je nachdem das Eine oder das Andere mehr Gelegenheit giebt, unsere Urtheilskraft leuchten zu lassen. We praise or find fault, depending on which of the two provides more opportunity for our powers of judgement to shine. Aphorism 86, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Wer sich selbst erniedrigt, will erhoehet werden. He who humbleth himself wants to be exalted. Aphorism 87, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Note: 'improvement' of Luke 18:14 — "He who humbleth himself shall be exalted." Every man who has declared that some other man is an ass or a scoundrel, gets angry when the other man conclusively shows that the assertion was erroneous. Aphorism 89, tr. Alexander Harvey [T]he initial character of justice is barter. Aphorism 92, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Unusquisque tantum juris habet, quantum potentia valere creditur Each has as much right as his power is assessed to be. Aphorism 93, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Compare: Spinoza; Unusquisque tantum juris habet, quantum potentia valet. — "Each has as much right as his power is worth." [W]e all still suffer from too slight a regard for our own personal needs; it has been poorly developed. Aphorism 95, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Every tradition grows ever more venerable — the more remote is its origin, the more confused that origin is. The reverence due to it increases from generation to generation. The tradition finally becomes holy and inspires awe. Aphorism 96, tr. Alexander Harvey Socrates and Plato are right: whatever man does, he always acts for the good; that is, in a way which seems to him good (useful) according to the degree of his intellect, the prevailing measure of his rationality. Aphorism 102, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Is Schadenfreude devilish, as Schopenhauer says. ... Is the knowledge, then, that another person is suffering because of us supposed to make immoral the same thing about which we would otherwise feel no responsibility? Aphorism 103, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann If one does not know how painful an action is, it cannot be malicious; thus the child is not malicious or evil to an animal: he examines and destroys it like a toy. Aphorism 104, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann No life without pleasure, the struggle for pleasure is the struggle for life. Aphorism 104, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Between good and evil actions there is no difference in type; at most a difference in degree. Good actions are sublimated evil actions; evil actions are good actions become coarse and stupid. Aphorism 107, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann 3. Religious Life The thinking of men who believe in magic and miracles is bent on imposing a law on nature; and in short, religious worship is the result of this thinking. Aphorism 111, tr. by Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann When we hear the old bells ringing out on a Sunday morning, we ask ourselves: can it be possible? This is for a Jew, crucified two thousand years ago, who said he was the son of God. The proof for such a claim is wanting. Aphorism 113, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Christianity came into being in order to lighten the heart; but now it has to burden the heart first, in order to be able to lighten it afterwards. Consequently it will perish. Aphorism 119, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Without blind disciples, no man or his work has ever gained great influence. Aphorism 122, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann There is not enough love and kindness in the world to permit us to give any of it away to imaginary beings. Aphorism 129, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann In each ascetic morality, man prays to one part of himself as a god and also finds it necessary to diabolify the rest. Aphorism 137, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann 4. From the Soul of Artists and Writers What do we long for when we see beauty? To be beautiful. We think much happiness must be connected with it. But that is an error. Aphorism 149, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Art renders the sight of life bearable by laying over it the gauze of impure thinking. Aphorism 151, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Every great phenomenon is followed by degeneration, particularly in the realm of art. The model of the great man stimulates vainer natures to imitate him outwardly or to surpass him; in addition, all great talents have the fateful quantity of stifling many weaker forces and seeds, and seem to devastate the nature around them. The most fortunate instance in the development of an art is when several geniuses reciprocally keep each other in check; in this kind of a struggle, weaker and gentler natures are generally also allowed air and light. Aphorism 158, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann The poet presents his thoughts festively, on the carriage of rhythm: usually because they could not walk. Aphorism 189, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Just as youth and childhood have value in and of themselves ... so too do unfinished thoughts have their own value. Aphorism 207, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Every writer is surprised anew when a book, as soon as it has been separated from him, begins to take on a life of its own ... it goes about finding its readers, kindles life, pleases, horrifies, fathers new works, becomes the soul of others' resolutions and behavior. In short, it lives like a being fitted out with a mind and soul—yet it is nevertheless not human. Aphorism 208, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Where there is happiness, there is found pleasure in nonsense. Aphorism 213, tr. Helen Zimmern 5. Signs of Higher and Lower Culture Active men are usually lacking in higher activity—I mean individual activity. They are active as officials, businessmen, scholars, that is, as generic beings, but not as quite particular, single and unique men. In this respect they are lazy.It is the misfortune of active men that their activity is almost always a bit irrational. For example, one must not inquire of the money-gathering banker what the purpose for his restless activity is: it is irrational. Active people roll like a stone, conforming to the stupidity of mechanics.Today as always, men fall into two groups: slaves and free men. Whoever does not have two-thirds of his day for himself, is a slave, whatever he may be: a statesman, a businessman, an official, or a scholar. Aphorism 283, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann 6. Man in Society We often contradict an opinion for no other reason than that we do not like the tone in which it is expressed. Aphorism 303, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Arrogance on the part of the meritorious is even more offensive to us than the arrogance of those without merit: for merit itself is offensive. Aphorism 332, tr. R. J. Hollingdale 7. Woman and Child Jedermann traegt ein Bild des Weibes von der Mutter her in sich: davon wird er bestimmt, die Weiber ueberhaupt zu verehren oder sie geringzuschaetzen oder gegen sie im Allgemeinen gleichgueltig zu sein. Everyone carries within him an image of woman that he gets from his mother; that determines whether he will honor women in general, or despise them, or be generally indifferent to them. Aphorism 380, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann In jeder Art der weiblichen Liebe kommt auch Etwas von der muetterlichen Liebe zum Vorschein. In every kind of female love, something of maternal love appears also. Aphorism 392, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Wenn die Ehegatten nicht beisammen lebten, wuerden die guten Ehen haeufiger sein. If spouses did not live together, good marriages would be more frequent. Aphorism 393, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Mit der Schoenheit der Frauen nimmt im Allgemeinen ihre Schamhaftigkeit zu. Women's modesty generally increases with their beauty. Aphorism 398, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Man soll sich beim Eingehen einer Ehe die Frage vorlegen: glaubst du, dich mit dieser Frau bis in's Alter hinein gut zu unterhalten? Alles Andere in der Ehe ist transitorisch, aber die meiste Zeit des Verkehrs gehoert dem Gespraeche an. When entering a marriage, one should ask the question: do you think you will be able to have good conversations with this woman right into old age? Everything else in marriage is transitory, but most of the time in interaction is spent in conversation. Aphorism 406, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann Nach einem persoenlichen Zwiespalt und Zanke zwischen einer Frau und einem Manne leidet der eine Theil am meisten bei der Vorstellung, dem anderen Wehe gethan zu haben; waehrend jener am meisten bei der Vorstellung leidet, dem andern nicht genug Wehe gethan zu haben, wesshalb er sich bemueht, durch Thraenen, Schluchzen und verstoerte Mienen, ihm noch hinterdrein das Herz schwer zu machen. After a personal disagreement and quarrel between a woman and a man, the one party suffers most at the thought of having hurt the other; while that other party suffers most at the thought of not having hurt the first enough; for which reason it tries by tears, sobs, and contorted features, to weigh down the other person's heart, even afterwards. Aphorism 420, tr. Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann 8. A Look at the State Socialism itself can hope to exist only for brief periods here and there, and then only through the exercise of the extremest terrorism. For this reason it is secretly preparing itself for rule through fear and is driving the word 'justice' into the heads of the half-educated masses like a nail so as to rob them of their reason... and to create in them a good conscience for the evil game they are to play. Aphorism 473, tr. R. C. Hollingdale Unpleasant, even dangerous, qualities can be found in every nation and every individual: it is cruel to demand that the Jew be an exception. In him, these qualities may even be dangerous and revolting to an unusual degree; and perhaps the young stock-exchange Jew is altogether the most disgusting invention of mankind. Aphorism 475, tr. Walter Kaufmann 9. Man Alone with Himself He who thinks a great deal is not suited to be a party man: he thinks his way through the party and out the other side too soon. Aphorism 579, tr. R. J. Hollingdale The advantage of a bad memory is that one can enjoy the same good things for the first time several times. Aphorism 580, tr. R. J. Hollingdale Part II If you have hitherto believed that life was one of the highest value and now see yourselves disappointed, do you at once have to reduce it to the lowest possible price? Aphorism 1, tr. R. J. Hollingdale Merchant and pirate...for a long period are one and the same person...Even to-day mercantile morality is really nothing but a refinement on piratical morality. Aphorism 22, tr. Paul V. Cohn Die mutter der Ausschweifung ist nicht die Freude, sondern die Freudlosigkeit. The mother of excess is not joy but joylessness. Aphorism 77, tr. R. J. Hollingdale Mancher wird nur deshalb kein Denker, weil sein Gedächtnis zu gut ist. Many a man fails to become a thinker only because his memory is too good. Aphorism 122, tr. R. J. Hollingdale The worst readers are those who behave like plundering troops: they take away a few things they can use, dirty and confound the remainder, and revile the whole. Aphorism 137, tr. R. J. Hollingdale A witticism is an epigram on the death of a feeling. Aphorism 202, tr. R. J. Hollingdale The value of many men and books rests solely on their faculty for compelling all to speak out the most hidden and intimate things. Aphorism 210, tr. Paul V. Cohn On the heights it is warmer than people in the valleys suppose, especially in winter. The thinker recognises the full import of this simile. Aphorism 335, tr. Paul V. Cohn It says nothing against the ripeness of a spirit that it has a few worms. Aphorism 353, tr. R. J. Hollingdale Im Gebirge der Wahrheit kletterst du nie umsonst: Entweder du kommst schon heute weiter hinauf oder übst deine Kräfte, um morgen höher steigen zu können. In the mountains of truth you will never climb in vain: either you will get up higher today or you will exercise your strength so as to be able to get up higher tomorrow. Aphorism 358, tr. R. J. Hollingdale He that prefers the beautiful to the useful in life will undoubtedly, like children who prefer sweetmeats to bread, destroy his digestion and acquire a very fretful outlook on the world. Aphorism 364, tr. Paul V. Cohn The good generally displeases us when it is beyond our ken. Aphorism 391, tr. Paul V. Cohn Every one who enjoys thinks that the principal thing to the tree is the fruit, but in point of fact the principal thing to it is the seed.—Herein lies the difference between them that create and them that enjoy. Aphorism 406, tr. Paul V. Cohn Part III Forgetting our objectives is the most frequent of all acts of stupidity. Aphorism 206, tr. R. J. Hollingdale A few hours' mountain climbing make of a rogue and a saint two fairly equal creatures. Tiredness is the shortest path to equality and fraternity—and sleep finally adds to them liberty. Aphorism 263, tr. R. J. Hollingdale Helen Zimmern translation thumb|right|It is not the struggle of opinions that has made history so violent, but rather the struggle of belief in opinions, that is, the struggle of convictions. Feinde der Wahrheit. — Überzeugungen sind gefährlichere Feinde der Wahrheit, als Lügen. Enemies of truth. Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 483 Ziel und Wege. — Viele sind hartnäckig in Bezug auf den einmal eingeschlagenen Weg, Wenige in Bezug auf das Ziel. Destination and paths. Many people are obstinate about the path once it is taken, few people about the destination. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 494 Das Empörende an einer individuellen Lebensart. — Alle sehr individuellen Maassregeln des Lebens bringen die Menschen gegen Den, der sie ergreift, auf; sie fühlen sich durch die aussergewöhnliche Behandlung, welche jener sich angedeihen lässt, erniedrigt, als gewöhnliche Wesen. The infuriating thing about an individual way of living. People are always angry at anyone who chooses very individual standards for his life; because of the extraordinary treatment which that man grants to himself, they feel degraded, like ordinary beings. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 495 Vorrecht der Grösse. — Es ist das Vorrecht der Grösse, mit geringen Gaben hoch zu beglücken. Privilege of greatness. It is the privilege of greatness to grant supreme pleasure through trifling gifts. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 496 Jeder in Einer Sache überlegen. — In civilisirten Verhältnissen fühlt sich Jeder jedem Anderen in Einer Sache wenigstens überlegen: darauf beruht das allgemeine Wohlwollen, insofern Jeder einer ist, der unter Umständen helfen kann und desshalb sich ohne Scham helfen lassen darf. Everyone superior in one thing. In civilized circumstances, everyone feels superior to everyone else in at least one way; this is the basis of the general goodwill, inasmuch as everyone is someone who, under certain conditions, can be of help, and need therefore feel no shame in allowing himself to be helped. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 509 Das Leben als Ertrag des Lebens. — Der Mensch mag sich noch so weit mit seiner Erkenntniss ausrecken, sich selber noch so objectiv vorkommen: zuletzt trägt er doch Nichts davon, als seine eigene Biographie. Life as the product of life. However far man may extend himself with his knowledge, however objective he may appear to himself — ultimately he reaps nothing but his own biography. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 513 Aus der Erfahrung. — Die Unvernunft einer Sache ist kein Grund gegen ihr Dasein, vielmehr eine Bedingung desselben. From experience. That something is irrational is no argument against its existence, but rather a condition for it. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 515 Gefahr unserer Cultur. — Wir gehören einer Zeit an, deren Cultur in Gefahr ist, an den Mitteln der Cultur zu Grunde zu gehen. Danger of our culture. We belong to a time in which culture is in danger of being destroyed by the means of culture. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 520 Die Länge des Tages. — Wenn man viel hineinzustecken hat, so hat ein Tag hundert Taschen. The day's length. If a man has a great deal to put in them, a day will have a hundred pockets. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 529 Unglück. — Die Auszeichnung, welche im Unglück liegt (als ob es ein Zeichen von Flachheit, Anspruchslosigkeit, Gewöhnlichkeit sei, sich glücklich zu fühlen), ist so gross, dass wenn Jemand Einem sagt: "Aber wie glücklich Sie sind!" man gewöhnlich protestirt. Unhappiness. The distinction that lies in being unhappy (as if to feel happy were a sign of shallowness, lack of ambition, ordinariness) is so great that when someone says, "But how happy you must be!" we usually protest. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 534 Den Andern zum Vorbild. — Wer ein gutes Beispiel geben will, muss seiner Tugend einen Gran Narrheit zusetzen: dann ahmt man nach und erhebt sich zugleich über den Nachgeahmten, — was die Menschen lieben. Model for others. He who wants to set a good example must add a grain of foolishness to his virtue; then others can imitate and, at the same time, rise above the one being imitated — something which people love. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 561 Schatten in der Flamme. — Die Flamme ist sich selber nicht so hell, als den Anderen, denen sie leuchtet: so auch der Weise. Shadow in the flame. The flame is not so bright to itself as to those on whom it shines: so too the wise man. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 570 Eigene Meinungen. — Die erste Meinung, welche uns einfällt, wenn wir plötzlich über eine Sache befragt werden, ist gewöhnlich nicht unsere eigene, sondern nur die landläufige, unserer Kaste, Stellung, Abkunft zugehörige; die eigenen Meinungen schwimmen selten oben auf. Our own opinions. The first opinion that occurs to us when we are suddenly asked about a matter is usually not our own, but only the customary one, appropriate to our caste, position, or parentage; our own opinions seldom swim near the surface. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 571 Lebensalter und Wahrheit. — junge Leute lieben das Interessante und Absonderliche, gleichgültig wie wahr oder falsch es ist. Reifere Geister lieben Das an der Wahrheit, was an ihr interessant und absonderlich ist. Ausgereifte Köpfe endlich lieben die Wahrheit auch in Dem, wo sie schlicht und einfältig erscheint und dem gewöhnlichen Menschen Langeweile macht, weil sie gemerkt haben, dass die Wahrheit das Höchste an Geist, was sie besitzt, mit der Miene der Einfalt zu sagen pflegt. Age and truth. Young people love what is interesting and odd, no matter how true or false it is. More mature minds love what is interesting and odd about truth. Fully mature intellects, finally, love truth, even when it appears plain and simple, boring to the ordinary person; for they have noticed that truth tends to reveal its highest wisdom in the guise of simplicity. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 609 Der Gegenwart entfremdet. — Es hat grosse Vortheile, seiner Zeit sich einmal in stärkerem Maasse zu entfremden und gleichsam von ihrem Ufer zurück in den Ocean der vergangenen Weltbetrachtungen getrieben zu werden. Von dort aus nach der Küste zu blickend, überschaut man wohl zum ersten Male ihre gesammte Gestaltung und hat, wenn man sich ihr wieder nähert, den Vortheil, sie besser im Ganzen zu verstehen, als Die, welche sie nie verlassen haben. Alienated from the present. There are great advantages in for once removing ourselves distinctly from our time and letting ourselves be driven from its shore back into the ocean of former world views. Looking at the coast from that perspective, we survey for the first time its entire shape, and when we near it again, we have the advantage of understanding it better on the whole than do those who have never left it. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 616 Philosophisch gesinnt sein. — Gewöhnlich strebt man darnach, für alle Lebenslagen und Ereignisse eine Haltung des Gemüthes, eine Gattung von Ansichten zu erwerben, — das nennt man vornehmlich philosophisch gesinnt sein. Aber für die Bereicherung der Erkenntniss mag es höheren Werth haben, nicht in dieser Weise sich zu uniformiren, sondern auf die leise Stimme der verschiedenen Lebenslagen zu hören; diese bringen ihre eigenen Ansichten mit sich. So nimmt man erkennenden Antheil am Leben und Wesen Vieler, indem man sich selber nicht als starres, beständiges, Eines Individuum behandelt. A philosophical frame of mind. Generally we strive to acquire one emotional stance, one viewpoint for all life situations and events: we usually call that being of a philosophical frame of mind. But rather than making oneself uniform, we may find greater value for the enrichment of knowledge by listening to the soft voice of different life situations; each brings its own views with it. Thus we acknowledge and share the life and nature of many by not treating ourselves like rigid, invariable, single individuals. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 618 Verkehr mit dem höheren Selbst. — Ein jeder hat seinen guten Tag, wo er sein höheres Selbst findet; und die wahre Humanität verlangt, jemanden nur nach diesem Zustande und nicht nach den Werktagen der Unfreiheit und Knechtung zu schätzen. Man soll zum Beispiel einen Maler nach seiner höchsten Vision, die er zu sehen und darzustellen vermochte, taxiren und verehren. Aber die Menschen selber verkehren sehr verschieden mit diesem ihrem höheren Selbst und sind häufig ihre eigenen Schauspieler, insofern sie Das, was sie in jenen Augenblicken sind, später immer wieder nachmachen. Manche leben in Scheu und Demuth vor ihrem Ideale und möchten es verleugnen: sie fürchten ihr höheres Selbst, weil es, wenn es redet, anspruchsvoll redet. Dazu hat es eine geisterhafte Freiheit zu kommen und fortzubleiben wie es will; es wird desswegen häufig eine Gabe der Götter genannt, während eigentlich alles Andere Gabe der Götter (des Zufalls) ist: jenes aber ist der Mensch selber. Traffic with one's higher self. Everyone has his good day, when he finds his higher self; and true humanity demands that we judge someone only when he is in this condition, and not in his workdays of bondage and servitude. We should, for example, assess and honor a painter according to the highest vision he was able to see and portray. But people themselves deal very differently with this, their higher self, and often act out the role of their own self, to the extent that they later keep imitating what they were in those moments. Some regard their ideal with shy humility and would like to deny it: they fear their higher self because, when it speaks, it speaks demandingly. In addition, it has a ghostly freedom of coming or staying away as it wishes; for that reason it is often called a gift of the gods, while actually everything else is a gift of the gods (of chance): this, however, is the man himself. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 624 Leben und Erleben. — Sieht man zu, wie Einzelne mit ihren Erlebnissen — ihren unbedeutenden alltäglichen Erlebnissen — umzugehen wissen, so dass diese zu einem Ackerland werden, das dreimal des Jahres Frucht trägt; während Andere — und wie Viele! — durch den Wogenschlag der aufregendsten Schicksale, der mannigfaltigsten Zeit- und Volksströmungen hindurchgetrieben werden und doch immer leicht, immer obenauf, wie Kork, bleiben: so ist man endlich versucht, die Menschheit in eine Minorität (Minimalität) Solcher einzutheilen, welche aus Wenigem Viel zu machen verstehen: und in eine Majorität Derer, welche aus Vielem Wenig zu machen verstehen; ja man trifft auf jene umgekehrten Hexenmeister, welche, anstatt die Welt aus Nichts, aus der Welt ein Nichts schaffen. Life and experience. If one notices how some individuals know how to treat their experiences (their insignificant everyday experiences) so that these become a plot of ground that bears fruit three times a year; while others (and how many of them!) are driven through the waves of the most exciting turns of fate, of the most varied currents of their time or nation, and yet always stay lightly on the surface, like cork: then one is finally tempted to divide mankind into a minority (minimality) of those people who know how to make much out of little and a majority of those who know how to make a little out of much; indeed, one meets those perverse wizards who, instead of creating the world out of nothing, create nothing out of the world. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 627 Es ist nicht der Kampf der Meinungen, welcher die Geschichte so gewaltthätig gemacht hat, sondern der Kampf des Glaubens an die Meinungen, das heisst der Ueberzeugungen. It is not the struggle of opinions that has made history so violent, but rather the struggle of belief in opinions, that is, the struggle of convictions. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / excerpt from aphorism 630 Wir sind im Wesentlichen noch dieselben Menschen, wie die des Zeitalters der Reformation: wie sollte es auch anders sein? Aber dass wir uns einige Mittel nicht mehr erlauben, um mit ihnen unsrer Meinung zum Siege zu verhelfen, das hebt uns gegen jene Zeit ab und beweist, dass wir einer höhern Cultur angehören. Wer jetzt noch, in der Art der Reformations-Menschen, Meinungen mit Verdächtigungen, mit Wuthausbrüchen bekämpft und niederwirft, verräth deutlich, dass er seine Gegner verbrannt haben würde, falls er in anderen Zeiten gelebt hätte, und dass er zu allen Mitteln der Inquisition seine Zuflucht genommen haben würde, wenn er als Gegner der Reformation gelebt hätte. Diese Inquisition war damals vernünftig, denn sie bedeutete nichts Anderes, als den allgemeinen Belagerungszustand, welcher über den ganzen Bereich der Kirche verhängt werden musste, und der, wie jeder Belagerungszustand, zu den äussersten Mitteln berechtigte, unter der Voraussetzung nämlich (welche wir jetzt nicht mehr mit jenen Menschen theilen), dass man die Wahrheit, in der Kirche, habe, und um jeden Preis mit jedem Opfer zum Heile der Menschheit bewahren müsse. Jetzt aber giebt man Niemandem so leicht mehr zu, dass er die Wahrheit habe: die strengen Methoden der Forschung haben genug Misstrauen und Vorsicht verbreitet, so dass Jeder, welcher gewaltthätig in Wort und Werk Meinungen vertritt, als ein Feind unserer jetzigen Cultur, mindestens als ein zurückgebliebener empfunden wird. In der That: das Pathos, dass man die Wahrheit habe, gilt jetzt sehr wenig im Verhältniss zu jenem freilich milderen und klanglosen Pathos des Wahrheit-Suchens, welches nicht müde wird, umzulernen und neu zu prüfen. Essentially, we are still the same people as those in the period of the Reformation — and how should it be otherwise? But we no longer allow ourselves certain means to gain victory for our opinion: this distinguishes us from that age and proves that we belong to a higher culture. These days, if a man still attacks and crushes opinions with suspicions and outbursts of rage, in the manner of men during the Reformation, he clearly betrays that he would have burnt his opponents, had he lived in other times, and that he would have taken recourse to all the means of the Inquisition, had he lived as an opponent of the Reformation. In its time, the Inquisition was reasonable, for it meant nothing other than the general martial law which had to be proclaimed over the whole domain of the church, and which, like every state of martial law, justified the use of the extremest means, namely under the assumption (which we no longer share with those people) that one possessed truth in the church and had to preserve it at any cost, with any sacrifice, for the salvation of mankind. But now we will no longer concede so easily that anyone has the truth; the rigorous methods of inquiry have spread sufficient distrust and caution, so that we experience every man who represents opinions violently in word and deed as any enemy of our present culture, or at least as a backward person. And in fact, the fervor about having the truth counts very little today in relation to that other fervor, more gentle and silent, to be sure, for seeking the truth, a search that does not tire of learning afresh and testing anew. Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / aphorism 633 External links German version on Project Gutenberg Category:Works by Friedrich Nietzsche Category:Essays