Human, All too Human

A book for free spirits

To do a review for this book, I would have to quote page after page. The book is a treasure trove of tidbits on several facets of life. It is a political treatise, a polemic on art, reflections on love and marriage, thoughts on relationships between man and society; woman and child, a critique of culture and art and a critical look at morals and religion.

Since I know you good readers are diligent, I will recommend for those yet to read this book to add it in their reading list.

On heaven or rather on the metaphysical world, this is what our philosopher friend had to say

No matter how well proven the existence of such a world might be, it would still hold true that the knowledge of it would be the most inconsequential of all knowledge, even more inconsequential than the knowledge of the chemical analysis of water must be to the boatman facing a storm.

and I can’t agree more.

And at the end of the book, we have this beautiful poem

Fine, with one another silent,
Finer, with one another laughing
Under heaven’s silky cloth
Leaning over books and moss
With friends lightly, loudly laughing
Each one showing white teeth shining.
If I did well, let us be silent,
If I did badly, let us laugh
And do it bad again by half,
More badly done, more badly laugh,
Until the grave, when down we climb
Friends! Well! What do you say?
Amen! Until we meet again!

Don’t excuse it! Don’t forgive!
You happy, heart free people, give
This unreasonable book1 of mine
Ear and heart and sheltering!
Truly, friends, my own unreason
Did not grow to earn a curse!
What I find, what I am seeking
Was that ever in a book?
Honor one from the fools’ legion!
Learn from out of this fool s book
How reason can be brought “to reason”!
So then, friends, what do you say?
Amen! Until we meet again

Who is responsible

No one is responsible for his deeds, no one for his nature; to judge is to be unjust. This is also true when the individual judges himself. 

F Nietzsche

What we can or not promise

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. He can, however, promise those actions that are usually the consequence of love, hatred, or faithfulness, but that can also spring from other motives: for there are several paths and motives to an action. A promise to love someone forever, then, means, “As long as I love you I will render unto you the actions of love; if I no longer love you, you will continue to receive the same actions from me, if for other motives.” Thus the illusion remains in the minds of one’s fellow men that the love is unchanged and still the same. One is promising that the semblance of love will endure, then, when without self deception one vows everlasting love.

F. Nietzsche

Brotherly advice

The best way to begin each day well is to think upon awakening whether we could not give at least one person pleasure on this day. If this practice could be accepted as a substitute for the religious habit of prayer, our fellow men would benefit by this change.

F. Nietzsche