THE writing of this book, especially of the last
chapters, in all their heart-breaking sadness, has been
for me a most difficult task. The very title, however,
compelled me to explain how it came about that in later
years my brother led such a lonely life. At heart every
man of genius is and remains lonely, but Nietzsche, of
all men, had no need of loneliness in his relations with
the world. He was always regarded as a most lovable
personality, and in his youth he was surrounded by a
large circle of friends, who idolised him even if they did
not understand him. In order to make this plain, I have
been forced to tell of much painful and unpleasant treat-
ment suffered by my brother. I would rather have
passed this over, but after all I, more than anyone, am
in duty bound to repel attacks, to remove errors, and to
portray the facts and experiences of my brother's life
with the most scrupulous accuracy; for no one stood so
near to my brother as I did. Many details of his career
and individual traits will here be described for the first
time. The attentive reader will remember how great a
value Nietzsche set upon the recital of individual experi-
ences, and even of traits that appeared trivial. Such
things, he was convinced, gave the world a better idea
of a philosopher than the subtlest expositions of his
teachings.

The reason why my narrative was so detailed was that
I saw how people had often formed an entirely false
impression of Nietzsche. There is no doubt that such
false impressions were often the result of malice afore-

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