Nietzsche On Reading and Writing

without madness a person is next to nothing

fuck yeah Nietzsche is my copilot

"We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh."

at the risk of being considered an unrefined brute by lp's intellectualites, this unfortunately looks mostly like noise to me. like someone got a computer to generate random text that's gramatically correct, and cherry-picked some of the more dramatic sounding excerpts.

what am i not getting here? and what sort of learning am i missing out on?

thus spoke zarathustra is such a tough book to follow if you're not familiar with Nietzsche's prior work, it's just so different. There are several excellent publications with analysis of the book at the end of it

On March 01 2015 20:45 Romm3l wrote: at the risk of being considered an unrefined brute by lp's intellectualites, this unfortunately looks mostly like noise to me. like someone got a computer to generate random text that's gramatically correct, and cherry-picked some of the more dramatic sounding excerpts. what am i not getting here? and what sort of learning am i missing out on?

"Of all writings I love only that which is written with blood. Write with blood: and you will discover that blood is spirit."
(the very first one)

how can you say this is randomly generated text!? asdf. AY ESS DEE EFF SIR.

I certainly do not consider you an unrefined brute. The first time I read Zarathustra I was like "What the fuck is this ridiculous shit?" After years and years of reading and studying literature, philosophy and poetry I still think Zarathustra is ridiculous shit just more so in a holy shit this is ridiculous shit but a lot of it is really awesome kind of way.

Yeah, for me, it definitely helped to read "Human All Too Human" and "The Gay Science" as well as understand Nietzsche's life to get a better appreciation for "Thus Spoke Zarathustra." Fred gets real ridic in the ladder. Actually, it is probably really important to read the intro and prologue and understand Fred in general. I was considering editing it down but just felt like keeping it all together.

It is def a personal taste thing but I absolutely love this (I will write a quick critique on why I love it???):

And to me too, who love life, it seems that butterflies and soap-bubbles, and whatever is like them among men, know most about happiness.

I personally love butterflies and soap bubbles and whatever is like them. A lot of my deepest enjoyments and transcendence in life come from simple pleasures many times based in nature. Sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, shooting stars, great art, writing, reading, whatever is like them brings me outside of myself and makes me forget that I am aging and weathering and decomposing until I die which may happen at any moment. I personally do not think I know most about happiness but in those happy moments it seems so and/or does not matter.

To see these light, foolish, dainty, affecting little souls flutter about - that moves Zarathustra to tears and to song.

IMO, this is classic Nietzsche in Zarathustra. Personally, I love the language he uses. Another key for me is that Fred is a deeply sensitive yet also literally psychotic man who may in fact be literally brought to tears or song by these things. These light, foolish, dainty, affecting little souls, at the very least brings him to a manic state in which he writes about it in blood from the heart and soul.

I should believe only in a God who understood how to dance.

Boom. I LOVE this. Fred posits famously, earlier in the text, that God is dead but if there were to be a God in his life it most assuredly would not only dance but in my mind dance ecstatically.

And when I beheld my devil, I found him serious, thorough, profound, solemn: it was the Spirit of Gravity - through him all things are ruined.

Life can be very serious. Gravity is serious business. Many churches and religions are serious business. But most of all, Gravity is a reality. Gravity and time ages us, brings us down, worsens our posture. Gravity is as unavoidable as time and illness and death.

One does not kill by anger but by laughter. Come, let us kill the Spirit of Gravity!

It is wise not to get angry about these facts. It is best not to condemn God or lack of god or condemn or resent or hate lifes' realities. It is best to love, connect, laugh. Be whole and together and in union with our fellow man: our communities, our fellowships, our tribes. To dance, to laugh, to find enjoyment within our realities and potential human connections and relationships. That is the only way we can overcome the human condition.

whenever someone starts quoting nietzsche i mark him as a poser hipster intellectual wannabe, i mean its still better than the coelho stuff on FB
or wait is it.

and yes i like nietzsche too

confirmed poser hipster intellectual wannabe

adding to my to-read list

On March 02 2015 20:39 cariadon wrote: confirmed poser hipster intellectual wannabe adding to my to-read list

High five on the confirmed poser hipster intellectual wannabe!

I do not have the time, energy, or money to get more formally educated on this stuff from a worthwhile philosophy program so fuck it let's go bowling dude!

I actually try and avoid bringing up Nietzsche at just about all costs in real life but was really feeling some Nietzsche at the time and the spirit moved me to post. LP is not real life? LP is real life but I already know there are people on here I would enjoy discussing Nietzsche with. In a rando hipster bar in the midwest with people I do not really know I do not think I would deny that I love me some Fred at times but would certainly not bring it up.

Cariadon, I would recommend reading some collection of Human, All Too Human, The Dawn, and The Gay Science before tackling Zarathustra. Also, for me, I find I enjoy Fred the most when I am just ready for some madness. Times when I am in the mood for just some God is dead, bipolar, psychotic aphorisms written in blood from the heart and soul. I find some of his insights so searing and brilliant but it definitely does not mean all his work is or that I identify his work as the gospel. Enjoy!

taking his word as the gospel would be such a herd-mentality move that N. would probably immediately be disgusted anyway
that is made pretty clear in Thus spoke Zarathustra though I'm not motivated enough to look for a few quotes

btw it's indeed hard to bring up Nietzsche almost anywhere, because people are usually completely misinformed on what he stands for. A ridiculous example is that a ton of people think he's a nihilist just because he fought against common moral biases, while it's pretty obvious that from a point on his work was mainly focused on fighting nihilism while remaining intellectually honest.
His sister 's manipulation of his writings post mortem, as well as his easily misinterpreted style of writing are other reasons for the confusion around his work, if I had to guess.

Yeah, def. His sister fucked shit up major. I refuse to read anything associated with her or her translations. Anyone who even gets close to mentioning her as a credible source I throw in the trash and set fire to it.

On March 02 2015 02:07 RiKD wrote: I certainly do not consider you an unrefined brute. The first time I read Zarathustra I was like "What the fuck is this ridiculous shit?" After years and years of reading and studying literature, philosophy and poetry I still think Zarathustra is ridiculous shit just more so in a holy shit this is ridiculous shit but a lot of it is really awesome kind of way. Yeah, for me, it definitely helped to read "Human All Too Human" and "The Gay Science" as well as understand Nietzsche's life to get a better appreciation for "Thus Spoke Zarathustra." Fred gets real ridic in the ladder. Actually, it is probably really important to read the intro and prologue and understand Fred in general. I was considering editing it down but just felt like keeping it all together. It is def a personal taste thing but I absolutely love this (I will write a quick critique on why I love it???): And to me too, who love life, it seems that butterflies and soap-bubbles, and whatever is like them among men, know most about happiness. I personally love butterflies and soap bubbles and whatever is like them. A lot of my deepest enjoyments and transcendence in life come from simple pleasures many times based in nature. Sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, shooting stars, great art, writing, reading, whatever is like them brings me outside of myself and makes me forget that I am aging and weathering and decomposing until I die which may happen at any moment. I personally do not think I know most about happiness but in those happy moments it seems so and/or does not matter. To see these light, foolish, dainty, affecting little souls flutter about - that moves Zarathustra to tears and to song. IMO, this is classic Nietzsche in Zarathustra. Personally, I love the language he uses. Another key for me is that Fred is a deeply sensitive yet also literally psychotic man who may in fact be literally brought to tears or song by these things. These light, foolish, dainty, affecting little souls, at the very least brings him to a manic state in which he writes about it in blood from the heart and soul. I should believe only in a God who understood how to dance. Boom. I LOVE this. Fred posits famously, earlier in the text, that God is dead but if there were to be a God in his life it most assuredly would not only dance but in my mind dance ecstatically. And when I beheld my devil, I found him serious, thorough, profound, solemn: it was the Spirit of Gravity - through him all things are ruined. Life can be very serious. Gravity is serious business. Many churches and religions are serious business. But most of all, Gravity is a reality. Gravity and time ages us, brings us down, worsens our posture. Gravity is as unavoidable as time and illness and death. One does not kill by anger but by laughter. Come, let us kill the Spirit of Gravity! It is wise not to get angry about these facts. It is best not to condemn God or lack of god or condemn or resent or hate lifes' realities. It is best to love, connect, laugh. Be whole and together and in union with our fellow man: our communities, our fellowships, our tribes. To dance, to laugh, to find enjoyment within our realities and potential human connections and relationships. That is the only way we can overcome the human condition.

thanks for the reply, i might check those other ones out at some point

On March 02 2015 00:52 fira wrote: Show nested quote + On March 01 2015 20:45 Romm3l wrote: at the risk of being considered an unrefined brute by lp's intellectualites, this unfortunately looks mostly like noise to me. like someone got a computer to generate random text that's gramatically correct, and cherry-picked some of the more dramatic sounding excerpts. what am i not getting here? and what sort of learning am i missing out on? "Of all writings I love only that which is written with blood. Write with blood: and you will discover that blood is spirit." (the very first one) how can you say this is randomly generated text!? asdf. AY ESS DEE EFF SIR.

use a pen, sideshow nietzsche

The Spirit of Gravity is the overly serious demeanor and actually the product of a mindset with too much fear of blushing.

i don't know why Nietzsche has such a following, i havn't read much, but he didn't back up his arguments in his books, so i stopped reading. Because any argument that isn't backed up by proof or evidence cannot be understood (unless the arguments are truisms). I took a few classes in philosophy a lot of my classmates liked Nietzsche too. I don't know why, i think continental philosophy is mostly a scam.
I would advise never taking a class in philosophy. Mostly a waste of time, content is too little for ur moneys worth and u can learn the stuff in your spare time pretty easily. Unless ur taking the class to fill up your degree or get an easy grade, in which case it is a good idea to take it.

On March 01 2015 01:29 fira wrote: fuck yeah Nietzsche is my copilot "We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh."

see this why i couldn't understand Nietzsche.

The first statement just seems to be about lifestyle preference. There are plenty of days where you could do worthwhile stuff and not dance. I think its easy to think of examples.

The second statement is about as disrespectful to scientific thought and human progress as you can get. If everyone considered truthful statements 'false' just because no one laughed, we would live in a terrible world. For example, any evidence given against murderers in courts that is truthful is almost never laughed at. So we would almost always consider it false, and the murderers would almost always go free. But to consider truth values as false is the peak of irrationality and stupidity.

On March 03 2015 17:18 lebowski wrote: btw it's indeed hard to bring up Nietzsche almost anywhere, because people are usually completely misinformed on what he stands for. A ridiculous example is that a ton of people think he's a nihilist just because he fought against common moral biases, while it's pretty obvious that from a point on his work was mainly focused on fighting nihilism while remaining intellectually honest. His sister 's manipulation of his writings post mortem, as well as his easily misinterpreted style of writing are other reasons for the confusion around his work, if I had to guess.

I didn't consider him a nihilist from what i read,although i do not think it is possible for a human being to a nihilist if you look at the definition. He just seemed to have the opposite moral views of the norm, without giving any good reasons. He seemed to favour oppression of women, oppression of the aristocracy over the populace to support a few creative individuals, and he didn't seem to understand christian moral values of forgiveness, pacificsm and such. Neitzsche has been proven wrong by history, pacifism turned out to have a liberatory effect in India for example, showing that it is not a 'slave-like' value.

Correct me if i've made any misinterpretations.