The meaninglessness of suffering, not suffering itself, was the curse that until now oppressed men--and the ascetic ideal gave it a meaning . . . man was thus saved, his life had a meaning, he was no longer like a leaf in the wind, a plaything of meaninglessness, he could now exercise his will--no matter in the first instance how or in what direction: his will itself was saved.
Man will rather will nothingness than not will at all.
Expressed morally, the world is false, but in so far as morality is itself a part of this world, then morality is false . . . "Truth", then, is not something that is there and is to be found or discovered--but something to be created, the name of a process, or better a will to conquer, which intrinsically has no end: we put truth into things, as a processus in infinitum, an active defining of them--not a learning to know something fixed and definite. It is a word for the will to power.
The main question is absolutely not whether we are satisfied with ourselves, but whether we are satisfied with anything at all. If we once respond positively to any single instant, then we have accepted not only ourselves but the whole of creation. For nothing stands alone, either in us or in the world outside; and if once our souls have vibrated with joy like a violin-string, then all eternity was necessary to bring about this instant, and in this one instant of our acceptance all eternity was blessed, redeemed, justified and approved.
The God on the Cross is a curse on life, a pointer to us to redeem ourselves from it--Dionysos hacked to pieces is a guarantee of life; it is eternally reborn and brought back from destruction.
KNIGHT A. H. J. Aspects of the Life and Work of Nietzsche. Cambridge, 1933.
KNIGHT G. WILSON. Christ and Nietzsche. London, 1948.
LAVRIN JANKO. Nietzsche, An Approach. London, 1948.
LEA F. A. The Tragic Philosopher: A Study of Friedrich Nietzsche. New York, 1957.
MORGAN GEORGE. What Nietzsche Means. Cambridge, Mass., 1941.
REYBURN HUGH. Friedrich Nietzsche. London, 1948.
ROUBICZEK PAUL. The Misinterpretation of Man. Cambridge, 1947.
WILLIAMS W. D. Nietzsche and the French. Oxford, 1952.
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Publication Information: Book Title: German Men of Letters. Volume: 2. Contributors: Alex Natan - editor. Publisher: Oswald Wolff. Place of Publication: London. Publication Year: 1963. Page Number: 30.
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