'Apophthegms and Interludes' from Nietzsche
Despite being a sexist, Friedrich Nietzsche did have some great things to say. The following are from Chapter IV of Beyond Good and Evil:
65. The charm of knowledge would be small, were it not so much shame has to be overcome on the way to it.
71. The Sage as Astronomer. - So long as thou feelest the stars as an "above thee," thou lackest the eye of the discerning one.
74. A man of genius is unbearable, unless he possess at least two things besides: gratitude and purity.
83. Instinct. - When the house is on fire one forgets even the dinner. - Yes, but one recovers it from among the ashes.
89. Dreadful experiences raise the question whether he who experiences them is not something dreadful also.
97. What? A great man? I always see merely the play-actor of his own ideal.
108. There is no such thing as moral phenomena, but only a moral interpretation of phenomena.
122. To rejoice on account of praise is in many cases merely politeness of heart - and the very opposite of vanity of spirit.
134. From the senses originate all trustworthiness, all good conscience, all evidence of truth.
137. In intercourse with scholars and artists one readily makes mistakes of opposite kinds: in a remarkable scholar one not infrequently finds a mediocre man; and often, even in a mediocre artist, one finds a very remarkable man.
153. What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.
154. Objection, evasion, joyous distrust, and love of irony are signs of health; everything absolute belongs to pathology.
169. To talk much about oneself may also be a means of concealing oneself.
176. The vanity of others is only counter to our taste when it is counter to our vanity.
183. "I am affected, not because you have deceived me, but because I can no longer believe in you."
Friedrich Nietzsche by Edvard Munch, 1906
65. The charm of knowledge would be small, were it not so much shame has to be overcome on the way to it.
71. The Sage as Astronomer. - So long as thou feelest the stars as an "above thee," thou lackest the eye of the discerning one.
74. A man of genius is unbearable, unless he possess at least two things besides: gratitude and purity.
83. Instinct. - When the house is on fire one forgets even the dinner. - Yes, but one recovers it from among the ashes.
89. Dreadful experiences raise the question whether he who experiences them is not something dreadful also.
97. What? A great man? I always see merely the play-actor of his own ideal.
108. There is no such thing as moral phenomena, but only a moral interpretation of phenomena.
122. To rejoice on account of praise is in many cases merely politeness of heart - and the very opposite of vanity of spirit.
134. From the senses originate all trustworthiness, all good conscience, all evidence of truth.
137. In intercourse with scholars and artists one readily makes mistakes of opposite kinds: in a remarkable scholar one not infrequently finds a mediocre man; and often, even in a mediocre artist, one finds a very remarkable man.
153. What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.
154. Objection, evasion, joyous distrust, and love of irony are signs of health; everything absolute belongs to pathology.
169. To talk much about oneself may also be a means of concealing oneself.
176. The vanity of others is only counter to our taste when it is counter to our vanity.
183. "I am affected, not because you have deceived me, but because I can no longer believe in you."
Friedrich Nietzsche by Edvard Munch, 1906
posted by Nor at 16:15
3 Comments:
let's take nietzsche completely out of context and call him appallingly sexist while saying it is in full appreciation of his nineteenth-century prespective
I take your point. Maybe a better construction than 'in full appreciation of' would be 'despite'. I think Nietzsche was sexist, whatever context, but wanted to acknowledge that it is problematic to judge the supposed 'sexism' of former times by today's standards - which, of course, being alive today and not in former times, we can't really escape. I could have made this clearer.
Is not the focus of this article the "great things" Nietzche had to say, rather than his "sexism"?
In any case I would like to say that my perception of anachronistic prejudices sometimes held by philosophers, is that they do seem to stem from honest observation in seeking truth, rather than ignorance or adherence to fashion.
His views my stem from some underlying truth, but this truth would not deem anyone(in this case women)inferior in an absolute sense.
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