What do you think?
Rate this book
The Portable Nietzsche
The works of Friedrich Nietzsche have fascinated readers around the world ever since the publication of his first book more than a hundred years ago. As Walter Kaufmann, one of the world's leading authorities on Nietzsche, notes in his introduction, "Few writers in any age were so full of ideas," and few writers have been so consistently misinterpreted. The Portable Nietzsche includes Kaufmann's definitive translations of the complete and unabridged texts of Nietzsche's four major works: Twilight of the Idols, The Antichrist, Nietzsche Contra Wagner and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In addition, Kaufmann brings together selections from his other books, notes, and letters, to give a full picture of Nietzsche's development, versatility, and inexhaustibly.
"In this volume, one may very conveniently have a rich review of one of the most sensitive, passionate, and misunderstood writers in Western, or any, literature." -Newsweek
"In this volume, one may very conveniently have a rich review of one of the most sensitive, passionate, and misunderstood writers in Western, or any, literature." -Newsweek
692 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1954
1156 people are currently reading
21315 people want to read
About the author
Friedrich Nietzsche
4,292 books25.3k followersFriedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a German classical scholar, philosopher, and critic of culture, who became one of the most influential of all modern thinkers. He began his career as a classical philologist before turning to philosophy. He became the youngest person to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel in 1869 at the age of 24, but resigned in 1879 due to health problems that plagued him most of his life; he completed much of his core writing in the following decade. In 1889, at age 44, he suffered a collapse and afterward a complete loss of his mental faculties, with paralysis and probably vascular dementia. He lived his remaining years in the care of his mother until her death in 1897 and then with his sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche. Nietzsche died in 1900, after experiencing pneumonia and multiple strokes.
Nietzsche's work spans philosophical polemics, poetry, cultural criticism, and fiction while displaying a fondness for aphorism and irony. Prominent elements of his philosophy include his radical critique of truth in favour of perspectivism; a genealogical critique of religion and Christian morality and a related theory of master–slave morality; the aesthetic affirmation of life in response to both the "death of God" and the profound crisis of nihilism; the notion of Apollonian and Dionysian forces; and a characterisation of the human subject as the expression of competing wills, collectively understood as the will to power. He also developed influential concepts such as the Übermensch and his doctrine of eternal return. In his later work, he became increasingly preoccupied with the creative powers of the individual to overcome cultural and moral mores in pursuit of new values and aesthetic health. His body of work touched a wide range of topics, including art, philology, history, music, religion, tragedy, culture, and science, and drew inspiration from Greek tragedy as well as figures such as Zoroaster, Arthur Schopenhauer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard Wagner, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
After his death, Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth became the curator and editor of his manuscripts. She edited his unpublished writings to fit her German ultranationalist ideology, often contradicting or obfuscating Nietzsche's stated opinions, which were explicitly opposed to antisemitism and nationalism. Through her published editions, Nietzsche's work became associated with fascism and Nazism. 20th-century scholars such as Walter Kaufmann, R.J. Hollingdale, and Georges Bataille defended Nietzsche against this interpretation, and corrected editions of his writings were soon made available. Nietzsche's thought enjoyed renewed popularity in the 1960s and his ideas have since had a profound impact on 20th- and early 21st-century thinkers across philosophy—especially in schools of continental philosophy such as existentialism, postmodernism, and post-structuralism—as well as art, literature, music, poetry, politics, and popular culture.
Nietzsche's work spans philosophical polemics, poetry, cultural criticism, and fiction while displaying a fondness for aphorism and irony. Prominent elements of his philosophy include his radical critique of truth in favour of perspectivism; a genealogical critique of religion and Christian morality and a related theory of master–slave morality; the aesthetic affirmation of life in response to both the "death of God" and the profound crisis of nihilism; the notion of Apollonian and Dionysian forces; and a characterisation of the human subject as the expression of competing wills, collectively understood as the will to power. He also developed influential concepts such as the Übermensch and his doctrine of eternal return. In his later work, he became increasingly preoccupied with the creative powers of the individual to overcome cultural and moral mores in pursuit of new values and aesthetic health. His body of work touched a wide range of topics, including art, philology, history, music, religion, tragedy, culture, and science, and drew inspiration from Greek tragedy as well as figures such as Zoroaster, Arthur Schopenhauer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard Wagner, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
After his death, Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth became the curator and editor of his manuscripts. She edited his unpublished writings to fit her German ultranationalist ideology, often contradicting or obfuscating Nietzsche's stated opinions, which were explicitly opposed to antisemitism and nationalism. Through her published editions, Nietzsche's work became associated with fascism and Nazism. 20th-century scholars such as Walter Kaufmann, R.J. Hollingdale, and Georges Bataille defended Nietzsche against this interpretation, and corrected editions of his writings were soon made available. Nietzsche's thought enjoyed renewed popularity in the 1960s and his ideas have since had a profound impact on 20th- and early 21st-century thinkers across philosophy—especially in schools of continental philosophy such as existentialism, postmodernism, and post-structuralism—as well as art, literature, music, poetry, politics, and popular culture.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 249 reviews
October 24, 2007
I didn't finish it. Life is too short. His mother should have made him go play outside.
Last night I couldn't sleep. I went to the porch and had a smoke. A hare came zipping across my driveway and around the corner of the house. My cat spotted it, jumped off the window sill and rushed to the storm door where he bumped his head against the still closed window. Had Nietzsche been there he would have laughed, too, I just know it.
Last night I couldn't sleep. I went to the porch and had a smoke. A hare came zipping across my driveway and around the corner of the house. My cat spotted it, jumped off the window sill and rushed to the storm door where he bumped his head against the still closed window. Had Nietzsche been there he would have laughed, too, I just know it.
February 12, 2016
My first two years at Grinnell College were conflicted. I was genuinely interested in study, but felt morally compelled to devote considerable time to political work and to the study of such subjects as history and political science which contributed to doing it intelligently. Then, having been at loggerheads with the DesPlaines draft board for some time for resistance, I was notified that proceedings against me were soon to begin.
Paying my own way through school, the prospect of being pulled from school in the middle of a term was too much to risk. I finished the sophomore year and took a job as an orderly at a convalescent and nursing home, the kind of job that might look good to the board.
The future was uncertain. I was back amongst old friends and there were a lot of them thanks to the sixties having created a suburban counterculture. Socially, I was much happier than I had been in college where I had felt myself the only virgin on campus and where I was insecure about my size, my age and my slow rate of physical maturation. Here there were younger people. But there were also more girls who I knew well enough to talk to, girls towards many of whom I felt strong ambivalence owing to being at once attracted to them and repulsed by my own lasciviousness. Here, also, there wasn't the constant need to study every day, to perform assignment after assignment with nary a day to read what I felt like reading.
With the the civil rights struggle in a militant phase, the war still going on, a possible prison sentence hanging over my head and a sexual neurosis which led me to consciously avoid looking at attractive females, I was a pretty serious little guy. Although I spent a lot of time ostensibly in the company of friends, a good deal of that time was occupied by reading owing to my aforementioned neurosis inhibiting my social behavior.
Being free to read what I liked, I began to delve into areas like philosophy and psychology in addition to my usual socially responsible readings. Nietzsche was the first philosopher per se who really captured my attention, both for his radical ideas (many of which I felt to be simply truths not often spoken) and for his lively writing style. Furthermore, he, like myself, was, according to Kaufmann's remarks, a social misfit and idealist.
Oh, although it has nothing to do with philosophy except that it may have scotched my chance to become a precocious one, the DesPlaines draft board was twice torched that summer. Some person or persons had poured soap flakes and kerosene through the ventilators on the single-storey structure's roof, napalming the place. I never heard from them again and was able to return to school in the fall.
Paying my own way through school, the prospect of being pulled from school in the middle of a term was too much to risk. I finished the sophomore year and took a job as an orderly at a convalescent and nursing home, the kind of job that might look good to the board.
The future was uncertain. I was back amongst old friends and there were a lot of them thanks to the sixties having created a suburban counterculture. Socially, I was much happier than I had been in college where I had felt myself the only virgin on campus and where I was insecure about my size, my age and my slow rate of physical maturation. Here there were younger people. But there were also more girls who I knew well enough to talk to, girls towards many of whom I felt strong ambivalence owing to being at once attracted to them and repulsed by my own lasciviousness. Here, also, there wasn't the constant need to study every day, to perform assignment after assignment with nary a day to read what I felt like reading.
With the the civil rights struggle in a militant phase, the war still going on, a possible prison sentence hanging over my head and a sexual neurosis which led me to consciously avoid looking at attractive females, I was a pretty serious little guy. Although I spent a lot of time ostensibly in the company of friends, a good deal of that time was occupied by reading owing to my aforementioned neurosis inhibiting my social behavior.
Being free to read what I liked, I began to delve into areas like philosophy and psychology in addition to my usual socially responsible readings. Nietzsche was the first philosopher per se who really captured my attention, both for his radical ideas (many of which I felt to be simply truths not often spoken) and for his lively writing style. Furthermore, he, like myself, was, according to Kaufmann's remarks, a social misfit and idealist.
Oh, although it has nothing to do with philosophy except that it may have scotched my chance to become a precocious one, the DesPlaines draft board was twice torched that summer. Some person or persons had poured soap flakes and kerosene through the ventilators on the single-storey structure's roof, napalming the place. I never heard from them again and was able to return to school in the fall.
March 22, 2025
I bought this book in the summer of 1968.
But I had then, and still have, the intuition that Kaufmann knew doodly about its implications - a full year after the Summer of Love and Haight Ashbury.
But Arnold Toynbee knew.
Writing about it at that time, he called us Hippies the Death Knell of Civilization. I'm not surprised now, having heard Sir Kenneth Clarke's identical inference on PBS three years later.
Sir Kenneth told us all civilizations are cyclical. As a friend once reminded me, Rome took about 500 years after Nero's first public free-love orgies to collapse, if that's any consolation!
It is for me. Maybe Toynbee was wrong.
Yes, just as Samuel Beckett took years to die after creating his first gasping elderly anti-heroes trying, finally, to die in peace, so the dystopian genre prevalent now may take decades to come true.
Who knows, I've lived in worse crises in my life!
And maybe my reading of Nietzche in 1968 was precipitated by the Cuban Missile Crisis shortly before.
And Nietzche, after all, was not an utterly wrong-headed writer, sanity or insanity notwithstanding, even though his transvaluation of values really happened.
It took place en masse in the nineteen seventies, and later blossomed into the Woke Culture!
My life, after all, in my dotage proves his theory of the Eternal Return Of The Same: every day now in my mid-seventies is exactly the same as the last!
And I know he takes the lid off all our covert hypocrisy: his Genealogy of Morals proves our ideals are so often beyond our reach.
And he certainly hit the nail on the head with Zarathustra, for in spite of all our failings, every new day must be an attempt to go beyond ourselves, in self-reflection and books, to our own self-transcendence.
But Beckett was right too.
We must always "try again," and if we "fail again"' we will somehow "fail BETTER!"
Any decline (my own and civilization's included):
Is slow, and has its own inner Bright Side😊❗️
But I had then, and still have, the intuition that Kaufmann knew doodly about its implications - a full year after the Summer of Love and Haight Ashbury.
But Arnold Toynbee knew.
Writing about it at that time, he called us Hippies the Death Knell of Civilization. I'm not surprised now, having heard Sir Kenneth Clarke's identical inference on PBS three years later.
Sir Kenneth told us all civilizations are cyclical. As a friend once reminded me, Rome took about 500 years after Nero's first public free-love orgies to collapse, if that's any consolation!
It is for me. Maybe Toynbee was wrong.
Yes, just as Samuel Beckett took years to die after creating his first gasping elderly anti-heroes trying, finally, to die in peace, so the dystopian genre prevalent now may take decades to come true.
Who knows, I've lived in worse crises in my life!
And maybe my reading of Nietzche in 1968 was precipitated by the Cuban Missile Crisis shortly before.
And Nietzche, after all, was not an utterly wrong-headed writer, sanity or insanity notwithstanding, even though his transvaluation of values really happened.
It took place en masse in the nineteen seventies, and later blossomed into the Woke Culture!
My life, after all, in my dotage proves his theory of the Eternal Return Of The Same: every day now in my mid-seventies is exactly the same as the last!
And I know he takes the lid off all our covert hypocrisy: his Genealogy of Morals proves our ideals are so often beyond our reach.
And he certainly hit the nail on the head with Zarathustra, for in spite of all our failings, every new day must be an attempt to go beyond ourselves, in self-reflection and books, to our own self-transcendence.
But Beckett was right too.
We must always "try again," and if we "fail again"' we will somehow "fail BETTER!"
Any decline (my own and civilization's included):
Is slow, and has its own inner Bright Side😊❗️
August 19, 2009
Just finished reading "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," this weird hybrid of philosophy, biography, myth and poetry. The cross-breeding (or -bleeding) of genres makes the book sound like a monstrous plant from a hothouse or an alchemical tome from a monastery. It is not. It is a book conceived while striding over mountains. It is best read in the open air, as I did, much of it, in Central Park, American elms arching above the Literary Walk to form the vaulted ceiling of a cathedral.
From one perspective (and Nietzsche is very much--essentially?--about perspectives), the book can be seen as a parody--a competitor--of the gospels. So Part 1 begins with Zarathustra "going under" from the mountain to the marketplace to preach to the people. Much of the book is made up of these "sermons," often in the form of parables. (Part 4 is different in being a continuous narrative.) And like Jesus, Zarathustra gathers round him disciples, is tested by various trials, provides a last supper, and receives a final revelation. The radical difference in Z's gospel is that God is dead, and man must find his ultimate value in himself, in overcoming himself, or, in Nietzschean terms, in becoming an overman. Z. is a prophet of the overman, and in his noblest moments is also a type of the overman.
Although so much of the book is noble and inspiring, parts of it are marred by a limited view of women. The book is the work of a very lonely man, whose hasty marriage proposals were all turned down. It is also the work of a man who suffered from bad health--bad headaches, bad eyes, sleeplessness--and so spoke of suffering with an obsessive vehemence. The miracle is the high praise the book accords to the body and to laughter. The book is thus a triumph of Nietzsche's will to power, the will to overcome oneself. Joy, not anguish, longs for eternity. The ultimate sign of acceptance and overcoming is a desire for eternal recurrence, not just of bliss, but also of agony. It is a book that demands to be read over and over again.
From one perspective (and Nietzsche is very much--essentially?--about perspectives), the book can be seen as a parody--a competitor--of the gospels. So Part 1 begins with Zarathustra "going under" from the mountain to the marketplace to preach to the people. Much of the book is made up of these "sermons," often in the form of parables. (Part 4 is different in being a continuous narrative.) And like Jesus, Zarathustra gathers round him disciples, is tested by various trials, provides a last supper, and receives a final revelation. The radical difference in Z's gospel is that God is dead, and man must find his ultimate value in himself, in overcoming himself, or, in Nietzschean terms, in becoming an overman. Z. is a prophet of the overman, and in his noblest moments is also a type of the overman.
Although so much of the book is noble and inspiring, parts of it are marred by a limited view of women. The book is the work of a very lonely man, whose hasty marriage proposals were all turned down. It is also the work of a man who suffered from bad health--bad headaches, bad eyes, sleeplessness--and so spoke of suffering with an obsessive vehemence. The miracle is the high praise the book accords to the body and to laughter. The book is thus a triumph of Nietzsche's will to power, the will to overcome oneself. Joy, not anguish, longs for eternity. The ultimate sign of acceptance and overcoming is a desire for eternal recurrence, not just of bliss, but also of agony. It is a book that demands to be read over and over again.
July 21, 2009
This book is a great complement to "Basic Writings of Nietzche". The other book should be read first, however.
Please refer to my other review on Nietzche (as I do not have enough room to copy it) for a more complete analysis.
There were some additional points I wish to cover:
1. Nietzsche is very difficult to understand, and has hence been the most misinterpreted philosopher of all time.
The belief that he was a Nazi, that he is an anti-semite, and misinterpretations and misuse of his overman/superman theory are just some of the most common misunderstandings.
2. Do not read “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” first.
My recommendation as introductory books would instead be “Beyond Good and Evil”, followed by “A Genealogy of Morals”. Only then may you tackle the poetic language with the underlying deeper philosophy of Zarathustra.
3. Nietzsche is very harsh on Christianity.
“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”
This may insult some, as Nietzsche has no respect for Christianity (although he has some positive feelings regarding the first testament). It may appear that his whole philosophy at times is an attack of Christianity (“the Antichrist”?), but this is going too far. Instead, Christianity is the system which Nietzsche attacks the most because it is the most powerful and direct contradiction to his philosophy on life.
This is Nietzsche with his most even-mannered analysis of Christianity- From “Birth of Tragedy”:
“I never failed to sense a hostility to life- a furious, vengeful antipathy to life itself: for all of life is based on semblance, art, deception, point of view, and the necessity of perspectives and error. Christianity was from the beginning, essentially and fundamentally, life’s nausea and disgust with life, merely concealed behind, masked by, dressed up as, faith in 'another' or 'better' life.”
...“For confronted with morality, life must continually and inevitably be wrong, because life is something essentially amoral.”
From “the Antichrist”:
“What is good? Everything that heightens the feeling of power in man, the will to power, power itself.
What is bad? Everything that is born of weakness.
What is more harmful than vice? Active pity for all the failures and all the weak: Christianity.”
Nietzsche at his more usual and controversial form- From “Twilight of the Idols”:
“And there he lay, sick, miserable, malevolent against himself: full of hatred against the springs of life, full of suspicion against all that was strong and happy. In short, a ‘Christian’”.
“This the Church understood: it ruined man, it weakened him- but it claimed to have ‘improved’ him.”
Please refer to my other review on Nietzche (as I do not have enough room to copy it) for a more complete analysis.
There were some additional points I wish to cover:
1. Nietzsche is very difficult to understand, and has hence been the most misinterpreted philosopher of all time.
The belief that he was a Nazi, that he is an anti-semite, and misinterpretations and misuse of his overman/superman theory are just some of the most common misunderstandings.
2. Do not read “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” first.
My recommendation as introductory books would instead be “Beyond Good and Evil”, followed by “A Genealogy of Morals”. Only then may you tackle the poetic language with the underlying deeper philosophy of Zarathustra.
3. Nietzsche is very harsh on Christianity.
“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”
This may insult some, as Nietzsche has no respect for Christianity (although he has some positive feelings regarding the first testament). It may appear that his whole philosophy at times is an attack of Christianity (“the Antichrist”?), but this is going too far. Instead, Christianity is the system which Nietzsche attacks the most because it is the most powerful and direct contradiction to his philosophy on life.
This is Nietzsche with his most even-mannered analysis of Christianity- From “Birth of Tragedy”:
“I never failed to sense a hostility to life- a furious, vengeful antipathy to life itself: for all of life is based on semblance, art, deception, point of view, and the necessity of perspectives and error. Christianity was from the beginning, essentially and fundamentally, life’s nausea and disgust with life, merely concealed behind, masked by, dressed up as, faith in 'another' or 'better' life.”
...“For confronted with morality, life must continually and inevitably be wrong, because life is something essentially amoral.”
From “the Antichrist”:
“What is good? Everything that heightens the feeling of power in man, the will to power, power itself.
What is bad? Everything that is born of weakness.
What is more harmful than vice? Active pity for all the failures and all the weak: Christianity.”
Nietzsche at his more usual and controversial form- From “Twilight of the Idols”:
“And there he lay, sick, miserable, malevolent against himself: full of hatred against the springs of life, full of suspicion against all that was strong and happy. In short, a ‘Christian’”.
“This the Church understood: it ruined man, it weakened him- but it claimed to have ‘improved’ him.”
April 1, 2011
What does not destroy me, makes me stronger. Also, God is dead. The Portable Nietzsche is a collection of Friedrich Nietzsche's books. I was familiar with Nietzsche's blasphemous assertion before picking up the book. I was not aware of the fact that, according to Nietzsche, we killed God. He died of his pity for us. Nietzsche explains that christianity's emphasis on suffering, sin, and afterlife put it in opposition to life itself. Der Ubermann (The Overman) is Nietzsche's ideal, a final post-theology stage of evolution for humans. I am not certain that Nietzsche believed that The Overman is attainable. Overall, this book was excellent. It was full of compelling arguments covering many aspects of the human condition. The most interesting book was The Antichrist, even though it is said that the book was written while Nietzsche was in the depths of dementia.
April 1, 2015
This still remains the best one-volume introduction to Nietzsche that has been produced in English to date. Although Walter Kaufmann's scholarship and Nietzsche translations have long since been superseded by better versions (the recent Cambridge and Stanford editions prominent among them), they remain eminently readable, and the range of Nietzsche's work that is covered here, from his early to his late work (and you get the complete texts of "Zarathustra," "The Antichrist," "Twilight of the Idols," and "Nietzsche contra Wagner"), offers a perfect overview for the newcomer.
June 24, 2007
For the most part, Nietzsche is not at all the philosopher that people think he is. He was the first relativist and "the last metaphysician" according to Heidegger. In many ways, Nietzsche finally said what was always implicit in Western philosophy - that truth and knowledge were simply a matter of concensus and control, and that freedom was the privelege of the rare few who could descend from the heights of man's "truth" and create their own values. His philosophy was not the sinister precursor to the Nazi totalitarian state, but a benediction to the willful few to create new life-affirming morals and values to replace the religious values that he accused of being obsessed with judgment and revenge.
Much of his early writings were aphorisms, which were short polemic statements of a few sentences or maybe a page that make for very interesting bedside and bathroom reading. His longer works, Thus Spake Zarathustra and Twilight of the Idols, require more dedicated reading.
Much of his early writings were aphorisms, which were short polemic statements of a few sentences or maybe a page that make for very interesting bedside and bathroom reading. His longer works, Thus Spake Zarathustra and Twilight of the Idols, require more dedicated reading.
October 29, 2023
The Devil's Bible: The one book I would take with me to a desert island or a tribal forest. Either way, it would keep me honest and allow me to survive. The Master would teach me what and who is worth saving. "If you have a why you can withstand any how". On this island, I will shed myself of all weakness, fear, and pity, starting with self-pity. From this island with shout "thank you, my Captain" to Walter Kauffman, who rescued the Prince of the West from a century of lies, deceit and oblivion.
April 5, 2022
About once a year, I feel the need to attempt to read philosophy. Perhaps by now I should know its not my thing, but I keep coming back. I enjoy learning the ideas of philosophers and reading about philosophy. What I should know by now is that reading philosophy is not really my thing.
This book gets 4 stars on organization much more than content. If you want to get into Nietzsche, I bet there isn’t a better book. A whole lot is included here, from letters and notes to the entirety of a few of his books. For an amateur, its a good place to go.
As an amateur, I have to admit I don’t get Thus Spoke Zarathustra. That book alone makes up half of this one. I can see why its considered a philosophical classic, its just not my cup of tea.
I enjoyed the aphorisms. Of all the longer works, I enjoyed The Antichrist most. Maybe that makes me a self-loathing Christian? Nietzsche certainly pulls no punches here. Of course, even as a Christian there is a lot to agree with in Nietzsche. He is almost prophetic in some of his criticisms of god and religion.
The big difference is that the prophets in scripture believe there is something real behind all our messed up conceptions of God. Nietzsche does not. Speaking of which, my favorite book on Nietzsche is still Merold Westphal’s Suspicion and Faith where he reads Nietzsche, Marx and Freud from a Christian perspective, seeing a lot in them that echoes Jesus and the prophets. That is the sort of philosophy I do enjoy reading.
One point that did strike me is the Nietzsche is decrying how Christianity messed up society, uplifting weak people and telling strong people to be weak. He obviously has no love for Christian morality - humility and meekness and sacrifice. In this I am reminded of Tom Holland’s book Dominion that shows just how much Christianity did change western culture. Nietzsche would agree, though he’d be very upset about it.
The irony is that many skeptical people today seem to argue that these virtues are totally disconnected from Christianity (and perhaps religion altogether). We don’t need God to pursue justice or equality. If I understand Nietzsche correctly, he’d disagree. At one point he says when you stop being a Christian, you lose the right to Christianity morality. Essentially the question begged is that after the death of God, you can be a moral person…but how do you define that morality?
The other side of the irony is that it appears too many Christians, or American culture (where I live) in general have tricked themselves. They think they are Christians, but they are more in line with Nietzsche’s ideas of power. At one point he writes that no one has the courage for master’s rights. He seems to be saying a Christian culture cares too much for the weak and despised. Yet I see the oppose - we live in a capitalist culture propped up by Christianity that mostly benefits the ruling class. The width between rich and poor grows; minimum wage is low, people struggle and are in debt.
A true Christian society would institute programs to bring about equality and benefit the poor. Our society does not seem like this. I’d say Nietzsche’s ideas won.
Or maybe I don’t get it.
(PS - I don’t think I get it. Check out the comment below that clarifies some things in Nietzsche’s project that I missed)
This book gets 4 stars on organization much more than content. If you want to get into Nietzsche, I bet there isn’t a better book. A whole lot is included here, from letters and notes to the entirety of a few of his books. For an amateur, its a good place to go.
As an amateur, I have to admit I don’t get Thus Spoke Zarathustra. That book alone makes up half of this one. I can see why its considered a philosophical classic, its just not my cup of tea.
I enjoyed the aphorisms. Of all the longer works, I enjoyed The Antichrist most. Maybe that makes me a self-loathing Christian? Nietzsche certainly pulls no punches here. Of course, even as a Christian there is a lot to agree with in Nietzsche. He is almost prophetic in some of his criticisms of god and religion.
The big difference is that the prophets in scripture believe there is something real behind all our messed up conceptions of God. Nietzsche does not. Speaking of which, my favorite book on Nietzsche is still Merold Westphal’s Suspicion and Faith where he reads Nietzsche, Marx and Freud from a Christian perspective, seeing a lot in them that echoes Jesus and the prophets. That is the sort of philosophy I do enjoy reading.
One point that did strike me is the Nietzsche is decrying how Christianity messed up society, uplifting weak people and telling strong people to be weak. He obviously has no love for Christian morality - humility and meekness and sacrifice. In this I am reminded of Tom Holland’s book Dominion that shows just how much Christianity did change western culture. Nietzsche would agree, though he’d be very upset about it.
The irony is that many skeptical people today seem to argue that these virtues are totally disconnected from Christianity (and perhaps religion altogether). We don’t need God to pursue justice or equality. If I understand Nietzsche correctly, he’d disagree. At one point he says when you stop being a Christian, you lose the right to Christianity morality. Essentially the question begged is that after the death of God, you can be a moral person…but how do you define that morality?
The other side of the irony is that it appears too many Christians, or American culture (where I live) in general have tricked themselves. They think they are Christians, but they are more in line with Nietzsche’s ideas of power. At one point he writes that no one has the courage for master’s rights. He seems to be saying a Christian culture cares too much for the weak and despised. Yet I see the oppose - we live in a capitalist culture propped up by Christianity that mostly benefits the ruling class. The width between rich and poor grows; minimum wage is low, people struggle and are in debt.
A true Christian society would institute programs to bring about equality and benefit the poor. Our society does not seem like this. I’d say Nietzsche’s ideas won.
Or maybe I don’t get it.
(PS - I don’t think I get it. Check out the comment below that clarifies some things in Nietzsche’s project that I missed)
August 5, 2010
Walter Kaufmann is the man responsible for Nietzsche studies in the English speaking world, and the collection he edited of Nietzsche's writings is outstanding. The book has several complete works: "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," Nietzsche's opus about the philosopher-king character Zarathustra; "Antichrist" and "Twilight of the Idols," both shorter, more mature works; "Ecce Homo," Nietzsche's exceedingly narcissistic study on himself; and "Nietzsche Contra Wagner," which is self-explanatory. The book also has selections from almost all of Nietzsche's other works, as well as selections from his notebooks and letters. So the book is not without "The Madman" passage from "The Gay Science," nor is it without the essay "Truth and Lies in an Extra-moral Sense," which, if read closely, contains the whole of Foucault's corpus. Kaufmann has provided extensive footnotes that allow one to keep up with Nietzsche's often subtle references as well as the nuances that do not translate from German to English.
March 11, 2016
I found his philosophy really fascinating.
He garnered a lot of controversy especially with the concept of the Übermensch. Which talks, from my understanding, about the superiority of the human race in the future. Some people and movements source this with the justification of eugenics, but I'm not too clear on Nietzsche views on eugenics.
In the Übermensch philosophy there is the often quoted and mostly misunderstood "God is dead." which pissed off a lot of Christians.
So Nietzsche was and is a very controversial figure in philosophy, especially in our time.
I enjoyed this read, and will read this again.
I'm not sure if I follow his philosophy exactly, but he does know how to write.
“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.”
Will always be one of my favorite philosophy quote.
His philosophy is featured in so much pop culture stuff, and I'm going to keep an eye out to see which pop culture works either supports or rebels against his philosophies.
He garnered a lot of controversy especially with the concept of the Übermensch. Which talks, from my understanding, about the superiority of the human race in the future. Some people and movements source this with the justification of eugenics, but I'm not too clear on Nietzsche views on eugenics.
In the Übermensch philosophy there is the often quoted and mostly misunderstood "God is dead." which pissed off a lot of Christians.
So Nietzsche was and is a very controversial figure in philosophy, especially in our time.
I enjoyed this read, and will read this again.
I'm not sure if I follow his philosophy exactly, but he does know how to write.
“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.”
Will always be one of my favorite philosophy quote.
His philosophy is featured in so much pop culture stuff, and I'm going to keep an eye out to see which pop culture works either supports or rebels against his philosophies.
November 24, 2009
Definitely one of the greatest philosophers in the Western Tradition. Set the stage for just about every political, or philosophical trend in the 20th century. From his misinterpretation by the Nazi's (he was not an anti-semite) to his inspiration of deconstruction, post-modern thought, and just about every subsequent thought in the continental tradition besides Marxism, this book is a must for anyone who wants to begin to understand how to live life. Probably the greatest psychologist that has ever lived.
July 15, 2012
Review
“The Portable Nietzsche” is a hefty collection of Nietzsche’s writings, with a bit of commentary on the translator’s part. This compilation contains three entire works: “Twilight of the Idols,” “The Antichrist,” and “Thus Spoke Zarathustra,” as well as a number of selections from his other works. The range here is certainly quite comprehensive, and gives you a good idea of what Nietzsche’s all about.
Well, what is Nietzsche all about? Sometimes, it’s hard to say. While I think I left with a fair understanding of his overall philosophy, before I go on, let me be clear: Nietzsche is not a philosopher. Sure, he’s got his opinions, many of which are fascinating, and we can brand these “his philosophy.” Nonetheless, Nietzsche fails to be a philosopher, as such, simply because he doesn’t offer any arguments. He simply makes assertions. Nietzsche doesn’t try to convince: he just says. And that’s being generous: it might be most accurate to say that Nietzsche rants - loudly, angrily - and entertainingly, to be sure. But in essence, what we have here is no more than an assortment of half-crazed, half-brilliant shrieks.
That said, I’m glad I worked my way through this collection. It took me quite a while: I found it hard to pay attention for more than two dozen pages in a given sitting. Nietzsche requires focus: not because his arguments are complex – again, he has none – but because if you don’t pay attention, you won’t locate the rhyme and reason behind the lunacy. Don’t get me wrong: Nietzsche is a fantastic, mesmerizing writer. His colorful, forceful prose is refreshing. But he’s a bit all over the place, and if you don’t concentrate, you'll hear nothing but pretty noise.
Nietzsche has some interesting and unorthodox ideas, though he’s rather inconsistent. For instance, I thought the first 30 or 40 pages of “Twilight of the Idols” were brilliant: Nietzsche takes on Socrates, exposes the assumptions of science, and debunks false causality. On the other hand, most of “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” just about put me to sleep. Get to the point, Nietzsche: there’s some serious rambling to be had here.
To conclude: it would have been nice to have a condensed version of this complication. The best 100 pages are fascinating; the rest is hit and miss. All in all, I’m glad I read this, mostly because I want to have had read Nietzsche. Now that I’ve done my dues, I doubt I’ll be coming back.
Summary
Though Nietzsche is all over the place, there are some common themes:
1) We must strive to overcome ourselves and become ‘overmen’.
2) There is no free will. We live an ‘eternal recurrence.’
3) There is no morality.
4) We are not all equal. Greater men should rule the lesser men.
5) Christianity sucks.
I’ll give a quick overview of each and provide some relevant and interesting quotes.
The Overman
This is probably the idea I struggled most to get a grip on. As best I understand it, the overman is one who has overcome his nature. He realizes there is no such thing as good and evil, but rather that power is good, and weakness is bad. The overman is the embodiment of power. Apparently, our world is not quite ready for the overman: Nietzsche, using Zarathustra as his mouthpiece, is merely preparing us for his arrival.
“What is good? Everything that heightens the feeling of power in man, the will to power, power itself. What is bad? Everything that is born of weakness.”
“And he whom you cannot teach to fly, teach to fall faster.”
Free Will and the Eternal Recurrence
Free will is an illusion, according to Nietzsche: ‘agency’ is simply a feeling that accompanies the inevitable. There is no such thing as causality. In fact, Nietzsche believes in ‘eternal recurrence’: idea that everything that’s happening right now has happened before, and infinite number of times, and we will forever recur. We’re never quite told why, but at this point, this should come as no surprise.
“The doctrine of the will has been invented essentially for the purpose of punishment, that is, because on wanted to impute guilt.”
“How, if some day or night a demon were to sneak after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you, ‘This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything immeasurably small or great in your life must return to you--all in the same succession and sequence--even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself. The eternal hourglass of existence is turned over and over, and you with it, a dust grain of dust.’ Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or did you once experience a tremendous moment when you would have answered him, ‘You are a god, and never have I heard anything more godly.’”
Morality
The overman sees beyond good and evil: morality, in Nietzsche’s estimation, is an illusion. Evil can be good, or at least necessary as a means to greatness. Both good and evil are part of what we are. It’s mediocrity and lukewarmness that are to be shunned.
“My demands upon the philosopher is known, that he take his stand beyond good and evil, and leave the illusion of moral judgment beneath himself.”
“Man needs what is most evil in him for what is best in him.”
Equality
Nietzsche hates the masses. In general, he seems to think people are weak and, more or less, suck. There are greater men and lesser men, Nietzsche claims, and it is the duty of the greater man to rule over his lesser counterpart. I suppose we’re left to infer that Nietzsche himself falls in the former camp.
“The doctrine of equality! There is no more poisonous poison anywhere… Never make equal what is unequal.”
“For me, justice speaks thus: men are not equal. Not shall they become equal!”
Christianity
Nietzsche is probably best known for declaring “God is dead.” What is less known, I think, is the extent to which he dislikes Christianity. He views it as a religion of weakness. Interestingly enough, Nietzsche loves the Old Testament, and seems to be a fan of the vengeful Yahweh. The New Testament gets no such love.
“Whither is God!” he cried. “I shall tell you. We have killed him - you and I.”
“God is dead; he died of his pity for man.”
“Is man merely a mistake of God’s? Or God merely a mistake of man?”
“What is more harmful that any vice? Active pity for all the failures and all the weak: Christianity.”
“’Judge not’, they say, but they consign to hell everything that stands in their way. By letting God judge, they themselves judge; by glorifying God, they glorify themselves.”
“It is false to the point of nonsense to find the mark of the Christian in a “faith”, for instance, in the faith in redemption through Christ: only Christian practice a life such as the lived who dies on the cross, is Christian.” (I actually really like this quote)
Other Quotes
On poets: “they all muddy their waters to make them appear deep.”
“What must first be proved is worth little… once chooses dialectic only when one has no other means.”
“What are the three best cursed things in the world? … sex, the lust to rule, and selfishness.”
“It is clear that science too rests on faith… whence might science then take its unconditional faith, its conviction, on which its rests, that truth is more important than anything else, even than any other conviction?”
“Senses… they do not lie at all. What we make of their testimony, that alone introduces lies.”
“Men of conviction are not worthy of the least consideration in fundamental questions of value and disvalue. Convictions are prisons.”
“The sure way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.”
“The Portable Nietzsche” is a hefty collection of Nietzsche’s writings, with a bit of commentary on the translator’s part. This compilation contains three entire works: “Twilight of the Idols,” “The Antichrist,” and “Thus Spoke Zarathustra,” as well as a number of selections from his other works. The range here is certainly quite comprehensive, and gives you a good idea of what Nietzsche’s all about.
Well, what is Nietzsche all about? Sometimes, it’s hard to say. While I think I left with a fair understanding of his overall philosophy, before I go on, let me be clear: Nietzsche is not a philosopher. Sure, he’s got his opinions, many of which are fascinating, and we can brand these “his philosophy.” Nonetheless, Nietzsche fails to be a philosopher, as such, simply because he doesn’t offer any arguments. He simply makes assertions. Nietzsche doesn’t try to convince: he just says. And that’s being generous: it might be most accurate to say that Nietzsche rants - loudly, angrily - and entertainingly, to be sure. But in essence, what we have here is no more than an assortment of half-crazed, half-brilliant shrieks.
That said, I’m glad I worked my way through this collection. It took me quite a while: I found it hard to pay attention for more than two dozen pages in a given sitting. Nietzsche requires focus: not because his arguments are complex – again, he has none – but because if you don’t pay attention, you won’t locate the rhyme and reason behind the lunacy. Don’t get me wrong: Nietzsche is a fantastic, mesmerizing writer. His colorful, forceful prose is refreshing. But he’s a bit all over the place, and if you don’t concentrate, you'll hear nothing but pretty noise.
Nietzsche has some interesting and unorthodox ideas, though he’s rather inconsistent. For instance, I thought the first 30 or 40 pages of “Twilight of the Idols” were brilliant: Nietzsche takes on Socrates, exposes the assumptions of science, and debunks false causality. On the other hand, most of “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” just about put me to sleep. Get to the point, Nietzsche: there’s some serious rambling to be had here.
To conclude: it would have been nice to have a condensed version of this complication. The best 100 pages are fascinating; the rest is hit and miss. All in all, I’m glad I read this, mostly because I want to have had read Nietzsche. Now that I’ve done my dues, I doubt I’ll be coming back.
Summary
Though Nietzsche is all over the place, there are some common themes:
1) We must strive to overcome ourselves and become ‘overmen’.
2) There is no free will. We live an ‘eternal recurrence.’
3) There is no morality.
4) We are not all equal. Greater men should rule the lesser men.
5) Christianity sucks.
I’ll give a quick overview of each and provide some relevant and interesting quotes.
The Overman
This is probably the idea I struggled most to get a grip on. As best I understand it, the overman is one who has overcome his nature. He realizes there is no such thing as good and evil, but rather that power is good, and weakness is bad. The overman is the embodiment of power. Apparently, our world is not quite ready for the overman: Nietzsche, using Zarathustra as his mouthpiece, is merely preparing us for his arrival.
“What is good? Everything that heightens the feeling of power in man, the will to power, power itself. What is bad? Everything that is born of weakness.”
“And he whom you cannot teach to fly, teach to fall faster.”
Free Will and the Eternal Recurrence
Free will is an illusion, according to Nietzsche: ‘agency’ is simply a feeling that accompanies the inevitable. There is no such thing as causality. In fact, Nietzsche believes in ‘eternal recurrence’: idea that everything that’s happening right now has happened before, and infinite number of times, and we will forever recur. We’re never quite told why, but at this point, this should come as no surprise.
“The doctrine of the will has been invented essentially for the purpose of punishment, that is, because on wanted to impute guilt.”
“How, if some day or night a demon were to sneak after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you, ‘This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything immeasurably small or great in your life must return to you--all in the same succession and sequence--even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself. The eternal hourglass of existence is turned over and over, and you with it, a dust grain of dust.’ Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or did you once experience a tremendous moment when you would have answered him, ‘You are a god, and never have I heard anything more godly.’”
Morality
The overman sees beyond good and evil: morality, in Nietzsche’s estimation, is an illusion. Evil can be good, or at least necessary as a means to greatness. Both good and evil are part of what we are. It’s mediocrity and lukewarmness that are to be shunned.
“My demands upon the philosopher is known, that he take his stand beyond good and evil, and leave the illusion of moral judgment beneath himself.”
“Man needs what is most evil in him for what is best in him.”
Equality
Nietzsche hates the masses. In general, he seems to think people are weak and, more or less, suck. There are greater men and lesser men, Nietzsche claims, and it is the duty of the greater man to rule over his lesser counterpart. I suppose we’re left to infer that Nietzsche himself falls in the former camp.
“The doctrine of equality! There is no more poisonous poison anywhere… Never make equal what is unequal.”
“For me, justice speaks thus: men are not equal. Not shall they become equal!”
Christianity
Nietzsche is probably best known for declaring “God is dead.” What is less known, I think, is the extent to which he dislikes Christianity. He views it as a religion of weakness. Interestingly enough, Nietzsche loves the Old Testament, and seems to be a fan of the vengeful Yahweh. The New Testament gets no such love.
“Whither is God!” he cried. “I shall tell you. We have killed him - you and I.”
“God is dead; he died of his pity for man.”
“Is man merely a mistake of God’s? Or God merely a mistake of man?”
“What is more harmful that any vice? Active pity for all the failures and all the weak: Christianity.”
“’Judge not’, they say, but they consign to hell everything that stands in their way. By letting God judge, they themselves judge; by glorifying God, they glorify themselves.”
“It is false to the point of nonsense to find the mark of the Christian in a “faith”, for instance, in the faith in redemption through Christ: only Christian practice a life such as the lived who dies on the cross, is Christian.” (I actually really like this quote)
Other Quotes
On poets: “they all muddy their waters to make them appear deep.”
“What must first be proved is worth little… once chooses dialectic only when one has no other means.”
“What are the three best cursed things in the world? … sex, the lust to rule, and selfishness.”
“It is clear that science too rests on faith… whence might science then take its unconditional faith, its conviction, on which its rests, that truth is more important than anything else, even than any other conviction?”
“Senses… they do not lie at all. What we make of their testimony, that alone introduces lies.”
“Men of conviction are not worthy of the least consideration in fundamental questions of value and disvalue. Convictions are prisons.”
“The sure way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.”
June 12, 2020
Friedrich Nietzsche is arguably the most famous philosopher of the last 200 years, maybe even the most famous since Plato in ancient Greece. When he published his most influential works in the 1880's he was barely known and lived a hermit's existence. His views are difficult to briefly summarize but I almost always find his writing interesting and very perceptive, even when I disagree with him. I would recommend his books to anybody interested in emotions, relationships between individuals, relationships between groups of people, or basic philosophical questions about truth, meaning, happiness, suffering, power, what makes life worth living, etc. This is a review not of Nietzsche's philosophical views but of this collection of his writings.
This Walter Kaufmann-edited volume contains the full texts of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Twilight of the Idols, The Anti-Christ, and Nietzsche Contra Wagner. In addition, fragments from earlier books, essays, and letters (including FN's final letters written as he was going insane) are collected. This book is meant to complement the other Kaufmann-edited collection, the Basic Writings of Friedrich Nietzsche, to cover almost all of Nietzsche's most well-known writings.
Nietzsche's famous essay "On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense" is included here in incomplete form. The full essay is easy to find online and is maybe one of the best places to start if you've never read anything by FN.
Twilight and Anti-Christ are my favorite Nietzsche books but instead of Kaufmann's translations here I read R.J. Hollingdale's translations in the Penguin edition that includes both books. I did the same for Zarathustra although I occasionally read Kaufmann's version to compare. Almost always, I preferred the Hollingdale translations.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra is Nietzsche's most famous book. It was also his own favorite of his own writings. I was excited to read it but found it pretty opaque and at times very tedious. Mostly I read the Hollingdale translation and supplemented this with the Kaufmann translation plus an audiobook. Maybe I would like another translation better. In a review of different translations of TSZ, translator Clancy Martin says "as a community we Nietzsche scholars should finally give up Kaufmann, now -- we all owe him a debt, but he's had his turn, and it is time for us to follow the accurate punctuation and paragraphing of Nietzsche's text." Instead he recommends the Parkes or Del Caro translations. I'm in no rush to try TSZ again but if I do it will be one of those.
This book also includes maybe the worst Nietzsche quote I've ever seen anywhere. From the "Notes" section- "The reabsorption of semen by the blood is the strongest nourishment and, perhaps more than any other factor, it prompts the stimulus of power, the unrest of all forces toward the overcoming of resistances, the thirst for contradiction and resistance. The feeling of power has so far mounted highest in abstinent priests and hermits (for example, among the Brahmans)." (p.75) I wonder why Kaufmann included this.
Kaufmann's introduction to the book and his commentary for each book are informative and interesting. For these and for Kaufmann's selection of excerpts from other works, which serve as a kind of Nietzsche's Greatest Hits, I found this book valuable. I did, however, find it necessary to look at other books to get a clearer picture of what Nietzsche meant. So this may not be the ideal "one stop shop" that the title of the collection seems to imply. Even so, I would recommend it to anybody wanting to read what Nietzsche wrote.
This Walter Kaufmann-edited volume contains the full texts of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Twilight of the Idols, The Anti-Christ, and Nietzsche Contra Wagner. In addition, fragments from earlier books, essays, and letters (including FN's final letters written as he was going insane) are collected. This book is meant to complement the other Kaufmann-edited collection, the Basic Writings of Friedrich Nietzsche, to cover almost all of Nietzsche's most well-known writings.
Nietzsche's famous essay "On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense" is included here in incomplete form. The full essay is easy to find online and is maybe one of the best places to start if you've never read anything by FN.
Twilight and Anti-Christ are my favorite Nietzsche books but instead of Kaufmann's translations here I read R.J. Hollingdale's translations in the Penguin edition that includes both books. I did the same for Zarathustra although I occasionally read Kaufmann's version to compare. Almost always, I preferred the Hollingdale translations.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra is Nietzsche's most famous book. It was also his own favorite of his own writings. I was excited to read it but found it pretty opaque and at times very tedious. Mostly I read the Hollingdale translation and supplemented this with the Kaufmann translation plus an audiobook. Maybe I would like another translation better. In a review of different translations of TSZ, translator Clancy Martin says "as a community we Nietzsche scholars should finally give up Kaufmann, now -- we all owe him a debt, but he's had his turn, and it is time for us to follow the accurate punctuation and paragraphing of Nietzsche's text." Instead he recommends the Parkes or Del Caro translations. I'm in no rush to try TSZ again but if I do it will be one of those.
This book also includes maybe the worst Nietzsche quote I've ever seen anywhere. From the "Notes" section- "The reabsorption of semen by the blood is the strongest nourishment and, perhaps more than any other factor, it prompts the stimulus of power, the unrest of all forces toward the overcoming of resistances, the thirst for contradiction and resistance. The feeling of power has so far mounted highest in abstinent priests and hermits (for example, among the Brahmans)." (p.75) I wonder why Kaufmann included this.
Kaufmann's introduction to the book and his commentary for each book are informative and interesting. For these and for Kaufmann's selection of excerpts from other works, which serve as a kind of Nietzsche's Greatest Hits, I found this book valuable. I did, however, find it necessary to look at other books to get a clearer picture of what Nietzsche meant. So this may not be the ideal "one stop shop" that the title of the collection seems to imply. Even so, I would recommend it to anybody wanting to read what Nietzsche wrote.
Read
May 24, 2024"Every philosophy also conceals a philosophy." Friedrich Nietzsche
Nietzsche was no Nietzschean.
A Nietzschean would live his philosophy, not espouse it.
He would not deign to convince others.
He would not need to convince himself.
Only lonely souls sermonize.
Only lonely souls need to.
Loneliness is the anguish of the social animal estranged from the herd.
The Overman, if he exists, is as asocial as he is amoral.
He does not need consolation, validation, or companionship.
He is sufficient unto himself.
Nietzsche was no Nietzschean.
Nietzsche was no Nietzschean.
A Nietzschean would live his philosophy, not espouse it.
He would not deign to convince others.
He would not need to convince himself.
Only lonely souls sermonize.
Only lonely souls need to.
Loneliness is the anguish of the social animal estranged from the herd.
The Overman, if he exists, is as asocial as he is amoral.
He does not need consolation, validation, or companionship.
He is sufficient unto himself.
Nietzsche was no Nietzschean.
December 24, 2019
This is the third time I have read this anthology. That last time was around 1990. It is worth reading again. But now the cover is gone, and the first pages have drifted away. Over the years I have, of course, I have read other Nietzsche in other editions, but nothing has ever risen to the level of translator and editor Kaufmann’s insights, notes, and arrangement. Even this could be improved by me. I would like more help as I read and Nietzsche refers to contemporary events and personages like David Strauss, etc. Also, this particular collection is Thus Spoke Zarathustra with assorted other works. I think that 1883 could have been trimmed down in the excerpt and a few more letters and aphorisms thrown in and that would be better. Speaking of the “aphoristic” (learned that adjective from Kaufmann) over the years I have been moving away from the radical provocations of Thus Spoke Zarathustra and The Antichrist to these insightful, witty aphorisms that I see as a middle period. Those two works I see in the third act with the curtain opening on the Wagner love and the Greek scholar’s dichotomy of the Apollonian and Dionysian.
They are a bit more clearly aimed, while the latter works are not exactly Nostradamus in perplexing obscurity. All that hallucinogenic metaphor probably explains how Nazi theorists and other anti-Semite thinkers believe there is some basis for their worldview here. Kaufmann points out some spots that are quicksand for the deluded despite Nietzsche being overtly anti-anti-Semite (he actually respects Jews for Spinoza and more), anti-party, and anti-nationalistic as in this note:
Being nationalistic in the sense in which it is now demanded by public opinion would, it seems to me, be for us who are more spiritual not mere insipidity but dishonesty, a deliberate deadening of our better will and conscience.
Of course, if his sister had predeceased him, maybe none of that association would have come about:
Essentially, Nietzsche is furiously individual with warnings for all that fear the individual:
Or, put more succinctly:
Really eternal recurrence and even ressentiment I find more interesting than profound. The whole beyond good and evil idea I find more worth mulling on, as is alluded to here:
and
Then we go onto this meat to chew on:
And then this which intrigues me as Buddhism has since I was a teen:
The miscellany of Notes and Letters are intriguing insights into Nietzsche the individual. For one thing, while he did eventually go instance, he comes across “off stage” much more collected than his later zany published works. I would like more of this type of insight, as his reading habits:
In a lot of this, I couldn’t help but think of Nietzsche alive today as a cable news pundit and with a Twitter account (first three from Twilight of the Idols, 1888):
and
and
And, boy oh boy:
They are a bit more clearly aimed, while the latter works are not exactly Nostradamus in perplexing obscurity. All that hallucinogenic metaphor probably explains how Nazi theorists and other anti-Semite thinkers believe there is some basis for their worldview here. Kaufmann points out some spots that are quicksand for the deluded despite Nietzsche being overtly anti-anti-Semite (he actually respects Jews for Spinoza and more), anti-party, and anti-nationalistic as in this note:
Being nationalistic in the sense in which it is now demanded by public opinion would, it seems to me, be for us who are more spiritual not mere insipidity but dishonesty, a deliberate deadening of our better will and conscience.
Of course, if his sister had predeceased him, maybe none of that association would have come about:
LETTER TO HIS SISTER
Christmas 1887
…You have committed one of the greatest stupidities- for yourself and for me! Your association with an anti-Semitic chief expresses a foreignness to my whole way of life which fills me again and again with ire or melancholy… It is a matter of honor with me to be absolutely clean and unequivocal in relation to AntiSemitism, namely, opposed to it, as I am in my writings. I have recently been persecuted with letters and AntiSemitic Correspondence Sheets. My disgust with this party (which would like the benefit of my name only too well!) is as pronounced as possible…
I am unable to do anything against it, that the name of Zarathustra is used in every Anti-Semitic Correspondence Sheet, has almost made me sick several times…
Essentially, Nietzsche is furiously individual with warnings for all that fear the individual:
The eulogists of work. Behind the glorification of "work" and the tireless talk of the "blessings of work" I find the same thought as behind the praise of impersonal activity for the public benefit: the fear of everything individual. At bottom, one now feels when confronted with work-and what is invariably meant is relentless industry from early till late-that such work is the best police, that it keeps everybody in harness and powerfully obstructs the development of reason, of covetousness, of the desire for independence. For it uses up a tremendous amount of nervous energy and takes it away from reflection, brooding, dreaming, worry, love, and hatred; it always sets a small goal before one's eyes and permits easy and regular satisfactions. In that way a society in which the members continually work hard will have more security: and security is now adored as the supreme goddess. And now horrors! it is precisely the "worker" who has become dangerous. "Dangerous individuals are swarming all around. And behind them, the danger of dangers: the individual.
- The Dawn (1881)
Or, put more succinctly:
The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.
- The Dawn (1881)
Really eternal recurrence and even ressentiment I find more interesting than profound. The whole beyond good and evil idea I find more worth mulling on, as is alluded to here:
Of all evil I deem you capable: therefore I want the good from you. Verily, I have often laughed at the weaklings who thought themselves good because they had no claws.
- Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883)
and
What is done out of love always occurs beyond good and evil.
- Beyond Good and Evil (1886)
Then we go onto this meat to chew on:
My demand upon the philosopher is known, that he take his stand beyond good and evil and leave the illusion of moral judgment beneath himself. This demand follows from an insight which I was the first to formulate: that there are altogether no moral facts. Moral judgments agree with religious ones in believing in realities which are no realities. Morality is merely an interpretation of certain phenomena-more precisely, a misinterpretation. Moral judgments, like religious ones, belong to a stage of ignorance at which the very concept of the real and the distinction between what is real and imaginary, are still lacking; thus "truth," at this stage, designates all sorts of things which we today call "imaginings." Moral judgments are therefore never to be taken literally: so understood, they always contain mere absurdity. Semeiotically, however, they remain invaluable: they reveal, at least for those who know, the most valuable realities of cultures and inwardnesses which did not know enough to "understand" themselves. Morality is mere sign language, mere symptomatology: one must know what it is all about to be able to profit from it.
- Twilight of the Idols (1888)
And then this which intrigues me as Buddhism has since I was a teen:
That the strong races of northern Europe did not reject the Christian God certainly does no credit to their religious genius-not to speak of their taste. There is no excuse whatever for their failure to dispose of such a sickly and senile product of decadence. But a curse lies upon them for this failure: they have absorbed sickness, old age, and contradiction into all their instincts and since then they have not created another god. Almost two thousand years-and not a single new god! But still, as if his existence were justified, as if he represented the ultimate and the maximum of the god-creating power, of the creator spiritus in man, this pitiful god of Christian monotono-theism! …
I hope that my condemnation of Christianity has not involved me in any injustice to a related religion with an even larger number of adherents: Buddhism. Both belong together as nihilistic religions-they are religions of decadence-but they differ most remarkably. For being in a position now to compare them, the critic of Christianity is profoundly grateful to the students of India.
Buddhism is a hundred times more realistic than Christianity: posing problems objectively and coolly is part of its inheritance, for Buddhism comes after a philosophic movement which spanned centuries. The concept of "God" had long been disposed of when it arrived. Buddhism is the only genuinely positivistic religion in history. This applies even to its theory of knowledge (a strict phenomenalism): it no longer says "struggle against sin" but, duly respectful of reality. "struggle against suffering." Buddhism is profoundly distinguished from Christianity by the fact that the self-deception of the moral concepts lies far behind it. In my terms, it stands beyond good and evil.
- The Antichrist (1888)
The miscellany of Notes and Letters are intriguing insights into Nietzsche the individual. For one thing, while he did eventually go instance, he comes across “off stage” much more collected than his later zany published works. I would like more of this type of insight, as his reading habits:
LETIER TO OVERBECK
Nizza, February 23, 1887
…I did not even know the name of Dostoevsky just a few weeks ago-uneducated person that I am, not reading any journals. An accidental reach of the arm in a bookstore brought to my attention L' esprit souterrain, a work just translated into French. (It was a similar accident with Schopenhauer in my 21st year and with Stendhal in my 35th.) The instinct of kinship (or how should I name it?) spoke up immediately; my joy was extraordinary…
In a lot of this, I couldn’t help but think of Nietzsche alive today as a cable news pundit and with a Twitter account (first three from Twilight of the Idols, 1888):
The sick man is a parasite of society. In a certain state it is indecent to live longer. To go on vegetating in cowardly dependence on physicians and machinations, after the meaning of life, the right to life, has been lost, that ought to prompt a profound contempt in society. The physicians, in turn, would have to be the mediators of this contempt-not prescriptions, but every day a new dose of nausea with their patients. To create a new responsibility, that of the physician, for all cases in which the highest interest of life, of ascending life, demands the most inconsiderate pushing down and aside of degenerating life-for example, for the right of procreation, for the right to be born, for the right to live. To die proudly when it is no longer possible to live proudly. Death freely chosen, death at the right time, brightly and cheerfully accomplished…
and
The value of a thing sometimes does not lie in that which one attains by it, but in what one pays for it-what it costs us. I shall give an example. Liberal institutions cease to be liberal as soon as they are attained: later on, there are no worse and no more thorough injurers of freedom than liberal institutions. Their effects are known well enough: they undermine the will to power; they level mountain and valley, and call that morality; they make men small, cowardly, and hedonistic-every time it is the herd animal that triumphs with them. Liberalism: in other words, herd-animalization.
and
Our institutions are no good any more: on that there is universal agreement. However, it is not their fault but ours. Once we have lost all the instincts out of which institutions grow, we lose institutions altogether because we are no longer good for them. Democracy has ever been the form of decline in organizing power…
And, boy oh boy:
One need only read any Christian agitator, St. Augustine, for example, to comprehend, to smell, what an unclean lot had thus come to the top. One would deceive oneself utterly if one presupposed any lack of intelligence among the leaders of the Christian movement: oh, they are clever, clever to the point of holiness, these good church fathers! What they lack is something quite different. Nature has neglected them-she forgot to give them a modest dowry of respectable, of decent, of clean instincts. Among ourselves, they are not even men. Islam is a thousand times right in despising Christianity: Islam presupposes men.
Christianity has cheated us out of the harvest of ancient culture; later it cheated us again, out of the harvest of the culture of Islam. The wonderful world of the Moorish culture of Spain, really more closely related to us, more congenial to our senses and tastes than Rome and Greece, was trampled down (I do not say by what kind of feet). Why? Because it owed its origin to noble, to male instincts, because it said Yes to life even with the rare and refined luxuries of Moorish life.
- The Antichrist (1888)
March 12, 2025
this was actually so interesting im surprised how much i liked it
March 30, 2011
"Toward a psychology of the artist. If there is to be art, if there is to be any aesthetic doing and seeing, one physiological condition is indispensable: frenzy. Frenzy must first have enhanced the excitability of the whole machine; else there is no art. All kinds of frenzy, however diversely conditioned, have the strength to accomplish this: above all, the frenzy of sexual excitement, this most ancient and original form of frenzy. Also the frenzy that follows all great cravings, all strong affects; the frenzy of feasts, contests, feats of daring, victory, all extreme movement; the frenzy of cruelty; the frenzy in destruction; the frenzy under certain meteorological influences, as for example the frenzy of spring; or under the influence of narcotics; and finally the frenzy of will, the frenzy of an overcharged and swollen will. What is essential in such frenzy is the feeling of increased strength and fullness. Out of this feeling one lends to things, one forces them to accept from us, one violates them -- this process is called idealizing. Let us get rid of a prejudice here: idealizing does not consist, as is commonly held, in subtracting or discounting the petty and inconsequential. What is decisive is rather a tremendous drive to bring out the main features so that the others disappear in the process." -- "Twilight of the Idols," "Skirmishes of an Untimely Man," 8
November 17, 2008
my main observation: Nietzsche's philosophy is extremely difficult to encapsulate. i definitely know what people mean now when they say he has no system, although i saw ever-so-many teasing hints at one!
other thoughts:
*eternal recurrence?! what's up with that?
*my reservations about his antipathy toward "equality" and his embrace of hierarchy were never completely resolved, but, based on Zarathustra, i'm relatively sure that they are primarily intended as motivational devices with benevolent intent. i have an especially hard time sympathizing with his fawning admiration of the ancient Greeks, which is at odds with his equally strong dislike of "convictions". this utopian anti-egalitarian current rubs me the wrong way but doesn't completely turn me off. i'll reserve judgment for the moment.
*i found the Antichrist to be a relatively accessible critique of Christianity that is far more interesting than Dawkinsian (apologies) arguments. culture is just more interesting than science.
other thoughts:
*eternal recurrence?! what's up with that?
*my reservations about his antipathy toward "equality" and his embrace of hierarchy were never completely resolved, but, based on Zarathustra, i'm relatively sure that they are primarily intended as motivational devices with benevolent intent. i have an especially hard time sympathizing with his fawning admiration of the ancient Greeks, which is at odds with his equally strong dislike of "convictions". this utopian anti-egalitarian current rubs me the wrong way but doesn't completely turn me off. i'll reserve judgment for the moment.
*i found the Antichrist to be a relatively accessible critique of Christianity that is far more interesting than Dawkinsian (apologies) arguments. culture is just more interesting than science.
Read
September 20, 2015"What then is truth? A mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, and anthropomorphisms -- in short, a sum of human relations, which have been enhanced, transposed, and embellished poetically and rhetorically, and which after long use seem firm, canonical, and obligatory to a people: truths are illusions about which one has forgotten that is what they are; metaphors which are worn out and without sensuous power; coins which have lost their pictures and now matter only as metal, no longer as coins.
We still do not know where the urge for truth comes from; for as yet we have heard only of the obligation imposed by society that it should exist: to be truthful means using the customary metaphors - in moral terms, the obligation to lie according to fixed convention, to lie herd-like in a style obligatory for all..."
We still do not know where the urge for truth comes from; for as yet we have heard only of the obligation imposed by society that it should exist: to be truthful means using the customary metaphors - in moral terms, the obligation to lie according to fixed convention, to lie herd-like in a style obligatory for all..."
May 17, 2022
9.95/10.
Assuredly the best introduction to Nietzsche out there. In this collection are offered the full versions of "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", "Twilight of the Idols", "The Antichrist", and "Nietzsche contra Wagner". Also offered are important letters of Nietzche's and key extracts from his other books. In total, it runs to around 680 pages and is full of verve and vital energy.
Nietzsche's corpus is too aphoristic to summarize, but I do have four reviews of the four main works in this collection:
"Thus Spoke Zarathustra": https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
"Twilight of the Idols": https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
"The Antichrist": https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
"Nietzsche contra Wagner": https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Assuredly the best introduction to Nietzsche out there. In this collection are offered the full versions of "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", "Twilight of the Idols", "The Antichrist", and "Nietzsche contra Wagner". Also offered are important letters of Nietzche's and key extracts from his other books. In total, it runs to around 680 pages and is full of verve and vital energy.
Nietzsche's corpus is too aphoristic to summarize, but I do have four reviews of the four main works in this collection:
"Thus Spoke Zarathustra": https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
"Twilight of the Idols": https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
"The Antichrist": https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
"Nietzsche contra Wagner": https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
March 26, 2008
Whoa. Slave mentality. Survival of the fittest. God is dead. Hitler was inspired by his views, but Nietzsche does push you to think critically of your own beliefs and why people believe the things they do. The book is pretty dry though, so take these quotes of all you need to know of Nietzsche.
Here are some of my favorite Nietzsche quotes:
1) "What does not kill me makes me stronger."
2) "The vanity of others runs counter to our taste only when it runs counter to our vanity."
3) "There are no facts, only interpretations."
4) "Not that you lied to me but that I no longer believe you - that is what has distressed me."
Here are some of my favorite Nietzsche quotes:
1) "What does not kill me makes me stronger."
2) "The vanity of others runs counter to our taste only when it runs counter to our vanity."
3) "There are no facts, only interpretations."
4) "Not that you lied to me but that I no longer believe you - that is what has distressed me."
November 23, 2008
I picked this book up years ago in a secondhand bookstore because it had the full text of Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Little did I know I'd just bought the best introduction to Nietzsche that I've come across to date.
This contains excerpts and several full texts which span Nietzsche's entire writing career, which gives the person reading him for the first time a vastly more comprehensive feel for his philosophy than can be had from some other Nietzsche collections which are mostly a hodge-podge of quotes stripped out of their context.
I think this volume deserves a place on the bookshelf of any budding Nietzsche scholar.
This contains excerpts and several full texts which span Nietzsche's entire writing career, which gives the person reading him for the first time a vastly more comprehensive feel for his philosophy than can be had from some other Nietzsche collections which are mostly a hodge-podge of quotes stripped out of their context.
I think this volume deserves a place on the bookshelf of any budding Nietzsche scholar.
June 8, 2008
Nietzsche is brilliant but not a fun or easy read. He, like many philosophers wrote essays on topics and not stories. I will argue that Zarathrustra while containing some interesting thoughts was a boring read. I am very interested by the man and his philosophical views but despise the style of essay that he wrote in.
June 14, 2021
2021-06-14 update:
”Shedding one´s skin. The snake that cannot shed its skin perishes. So do the spirits who are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be spirit.” p. 92
Lesson: be adaptable and evolve and change opinions from time to time.
”Shedding one´s skin. The snake that cannot shed its skin perishes. So do the spirits who are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be spirit.” p. 92
Lesson: be adaptable and evolve and change opinions from time to time.
May 17, 2019
Not as good as Kaufmann's other big collection, The Basic Writings of Nietzsche. Both in term of the selection of Nietzsche's works (in my opinion of course, Bob) and Kaufmann's own additions to them (Basic Writings is richly annotated, this book hardly at all).
August 2, 2021
Living in Germany in the late 1800s (and dying in 1900), Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the dreariest philosophers you will ever encounter. He is infamous for the phrase, “God is dead,” and his thoughts and ideas laid some of the ground work for what became known as Fascism (the far-right political idea associated with extreme nationalism, dictatorship, and suppressing people by force), Nazism (Hitler’s fascism), and Nihilism (the belief that nothing matters or has any value ). This book I finished reading, The Portable Nietzsche by Walter Kaufmann, is a condensed version of Nietzsche’s writings.
Now, you may be wondering, “Jordy! Why would you read a book that is associated with so many dark and evil things?” Well, first of all, I had to buy this book for my university courses (we only read one chapter), and I am the kind of person who likes to finish what I read (even if I don’t like it). But secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I strongly believe it is important for people to engage with ideas that they do not agree with. I especially believe this is important for Christians (who, at least in North America, I find tend to avoid what they don’t agree with). I could talk more about that, but it’s a subject for another day, and this is a book review.
Now, it’s important to note that while Nietzsche’s ideas made great contributions to these darker philosophies, Nietzsche himself was actually overtly opposed to those ideas. He specifically disliked nationalism (where a country becomes more important than its people), and he hated anti-Semitism (the hatred of Jewish people). (However, his sister supported both of those ideas, and after he died, she published edited versions of his works that supported those causes (she also tried to start a Nietzsche cult, apparently). Nevertheless, I can strongly say, I am not a Nietzsche fan.
Now, this book is largely made up of three of Nietzsche’s more popular works, (and the rest of the book is interspersed with small excerpts and letters that I honestly didn’t get much out of):
Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A fictional story (?) about a guy named Zarathustra who encounters various odd people around the cave he lives in, and then talks to them about his thoughts and ideas that are usually not connected to whatever is happening.
Twilight of the Idols: A summary of what Nietzsche thought about various philosophers (he hated most of them, literally calling one, “A milk cow, with beautiful style.”
The Antichrist: Literally, a critique of Christianity (which Nietzsche hated. More on that later).
Between all of these works are a series of significant ideas that Nietzsche is most famous for.
The Ubermensch, or in English, the Overman. This is one of Nietzsche’s most famous ideas which he addresses in depth in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Essentially, Nietzsche believes that humankind will one day be overtaken by a ‘more evolved’ form of humans in the same way that humans overcame apes in Darwin’s theory of evolution (ironically, Nietzsche was not a fan of Darwin). The Overmen are not what humans will become, they are what humans will be replaced by, there is nothing we can do to stop it, and we must make way for them. Interesting side note: Ubermensch was originally translated into English as ‘Superman’, and it is where we get the name Superman from (but Nietzsche was not predicting that people with super powers would rise (like X-Men), he just believed that we were doomed to be replaced by something better.)
I find this idea interesting, but not very useful. Like, what do I do with the knowledge that I’m replaceable and there is nothing I can do about? I don’t agree with the Overman idea, plus, we don’t really have evidence of it occurring (yet.)
The Death of God is an interesting idea. The phrase, “God is dead,” is probably one of the most misunderstood ideas in Christianity (because we tend to avoid what we disagree with). When Nietzsche says, “God is dead,” he is not saying that there is no God, or even that God has ceased to exist. Instead, the full quote is, “God is dead, and we have killed Him.” Nietzsche goes on to explain that he feels that humanity has found ways to do away with God through the busyness of life, technology, philosophy, medicine, and everything else. He thinks that people depended on God at one time, but now they have gotten rid of God so that they can live life according to their own ideas. But in true Nietzschean fashion, he doesn’t offer any solutions, he just states that humanity is bad and has killed God.
Frankly, I don’t entirely disagree with Nietzsche’s assessment of people. Yes, the largely modern world appears to have done away with God (though, keep in mind, on a global scale there are more theists (people who believe in divine beings) than atheists (people who don’t)); however, that does not mean we should do away with God (especially if He is real. We have a big problem if we reject a real God), or that we cannot attribute the rise in technology and medicine to God’s ingenuity in humankind – God can solve a pandemic through vaccines - there is evidence of God’s provision through human innovation.
Lastly, Nietzsche was a true hater of Christianity. Not religion (he’s okay with Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism (to a degree)), not the God of the Old Testament, not even Jesus (to a certain point). But he HATES Christianity with a fervent passion; for a few reasons.
He thinks Christianity wrongfully helps the weak. By being a faith that embraces the poor, the needy, the sick, and offers them salvation and a better life, Nietzsche thinks that Christianity prevents ‘weak’ people from dying off. To Nietzsche, it was wrong to allow people to live off the welfare of a society. In opposition, Christianity historically emphasizes helping any person regardless of social standing, healthiness, nationality, or whether or not they’re even a good person.
Nietzsche thinks that Christianity prevents people from living according to their natural evil tendencies. To Nietzsche, people are born with an evil nature and naturally do wicked things; therefore, it is unnatural to try to make people act in a moral and good.
I certainly don’t agree with Nietzsche’s reasons for hating Christians (after all, I am one), but I think there is worth in being criticised. Another issue Nietzsche has is Christian hypocrisy, and he suggests that Christians are bad because they don’t actually follow Jesus; and to that I say, “Yes, we should be better at following Jesus.”
Concerning the book itself, this is NOT an easy read by any means. Nietzsche was not regarded as a great author for his writing style (especially toward the end of his life when he went insane - more on that later). But the main problem with understanding Nietzsche is that he wrote in German, and he used a lot of play-on-words that only make sense in German. It’s like the English pun, “A horse is a very stable animal;” you can’t say this pun in another language because it will use completely different words to mean ‘stable – as in remaining in control’ and ‘stable – where horses sleep.’ Nietzsche does this sort of thing A LOT – BUT IT DOESN’T WORK WHEN TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH.
Furthermore, Nietzsche writes about really complex ideas that are just hard to explain, and his mental health became obsolete. He suffered from stomach cramps, which didn’t allow him to eat much, and he took medications for it, but the medications caused insomnia so he could hardly sleep. He also suffered from constant migraines that were so bad that doctors told him he should not use his eyes for any length of time (then he would write for hours anyway). Nietzsche, therefore, did not have much a romantic or social life, and he never found anyone who he felt truly understood him. Kaufmann, the book’s editor, describes Nietzsche as a man who wrote out of his profound loneliness.
Eventually, with everything taken together, Nietzsche literally went insane, was institutionalized, and died in 1900 not knowing who he was or what he had accomplished. Ironically, for a man who believed that pity was one of the worst human traits, I find him to be a man most pitiable.
So, that’s my review of The Portable Nietzsche. 1/5 stars. I only recommend it to people who actually want to know what Nietzsche was about, or for people who want to criticize him – and maybe only for people who can read his works in German.
Now, you may be wondering, “Jordy! Why would you read a book that is associated with so many dark and evil things?” Well, first of all, I had to buy this book for my university courses (we only read one chapter), and I am the kind of person who likes to finish what I read (even if I don’t like it). But secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I strongly believe it is important for people to engage with ideas that they do not agree with. I especially believe this is important for Christians (who, at least in North America, I find tend to avoid what they don’t agree with). I could talk more about that, but it’s a subject for another day, and this is a book review.
Now, it’s important to note that while Nietzsche’s ideas made great contributions to these darker philosophies, Nietzsche himself was actually overtly opposed to those ideas. He specifically disliked nationalism (where a country becomes more important than its people), and he hated anti-Semitism (the hatred of Jewish people). (However, his sister supported both of those ideas, and after he died, she published edited versions of his works that supported those causes (she also tried to start a Nietzsche cult, apparently). Nevertheless, I can strongly say, I am not a Nietzsche fan.
Now, this book is largely made up of three of Nietzsche’s more popular works, (and the rest of the book is interspersed with small excerpts and letters that I honestly didn’t get much out of):
Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A fictional story (?) about a guy named Zarathustra who encounters various odd people around the cave he lives in, and then talks to them about his thoughts and ideas that are usually not connected to whatever is happening.
Twilight of the Idols: A summary of what Nietzsche thought about various philosophers (he hated most of them, literally calling one, “A milk cow, with beautiful style.”
The Antichrist: Literally, a critique of Christianity (which Nietzsche hated. More on that later).
Between all of these works are a series of significant ideas that Nietzsche is most famous for.
The Ubermensch, or in English, the Overman. This is one of Nietzsche’s most famous ideas which he addresses in depth in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Essentially, Nietzsche believes that humankind will one day be overtaken by a ‘more evolved’ form of humans in the same way that humans overcame apes in Darwin’s theory of evolution (ironically, Nietzsche was not a fan of Darwin). The Overmen are not what humans will become, they are what humans will be replaced by, there is nothing we can do to stop it, and we must make way for them. Interesting side note: Ubermensch was originally translated into English as ‘Superman’, and it is where we get the name Superman from (but Nietzsche was not predicting that people with super powers would rise (like X-Men), he just believed that we were doomed to be replaced by something better.)
I find this idea interesting, but not very useful. Like, what do I do with the knowledge that I’m replaceable and there is nothing I can do about? I don’t agree with the Overman idea, plus, we don’t really have evidence of it occurring (yet.)
The Death of God is an interesting idea. The phrase, “God is dead,” is probably one of the most misunderstood ideas in Christianity (because we tend to avoid what we disagree with). When Nietzsche says, “God is dead,” he is not saying that there is no God, or even that God has ceased to exist. Instead, the full quote is, “God is dead, and we have killed Him.” Nietzsche goes on to explain that he feels that humanity has found ways to do away with God through the busyness of life, technology, philosophy, medicine, and everything else. He thinks that people depended on God at one time, but now they have gotten rid of God so that they can live life according to their own ideas. But in true Nietzschean fashion, he doesn’t offer any solutions, he just states that humanity is bad and has killed God.
Frankly, I don’t entirely disagree with Nietzsche’s assessment of people. Yes, the largely modern world appears to have done away with God (though, keep in mind, on a global scale there are more theists (people who believe in divine beings) than atheists (people who don’t)); however, that does not mean we should do away with God (especially if He is real. We have a big problem if we reject a real God), or that we cannot attribute the rise in technology and medicine to God’s ingenuity in humankind – God can solve a pandemic through vaccines - there is evidence of God’s provision through human innovation.
Lastly, Nietzsche was a true hater of Christianity. Not religion (he’s okay with Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism (to a degree)), not the God of the Old Testament, not even Jesus (to a certain point). But he HATES Christianity with a fervent passion; for a few reasons.
He thinks Christianity wrongfully helps the weak. By being a faith that embraces the poor, the needy, the sick, and offers them salvation and a better life, Nietzsche thinks that Christianity prevents ‘weak’ people from dying off. To Nietzsche, it was wrong to allow people to live off the welfare of a society. In opposition, Christianity historically emphasizes helping any person regardless of social standing, healthiness, nationality, or whether or not they’re even a good person.
Nietzsche thinks that Christianity prevents people from living according to their natural evil tendencies. To Nietzsche, people are born with an evil nature and naturally do wicked things; therefore, it is unnatural to try to make people act in a moral and good.
I certainly don’t agree with Nietzsche’s reasons for hating Christians (after all, I am one), but I think there is worth in being criticised. Another issue Nietzsche has is Christian hypocrisy, and he suggests that Christians are bad because they don’t actually follow Jesus; and to that I say, “Yes, we should be better at following Jesus.”
Concerning the book itself, this is NOT an easy read by any means. Nietzsche was not regarded as a great author for his writing style (especially toward the end of his life when he went insane - more on that later). But the main problem with understanding Nietzsche is that he wrote in German, and he used a lot of play-on-words that only make sense in German. It’s like the English pun, “A horse is a very stable animal;” you can’t say this pun in another language because it will use completely different words to mean ‘stable – as in remaining in control’ and ‘stable – where horses sleep.’ Nietzsche does this sort of thing A LOT – BUT IT DOESN’T WORK WHEN TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH.
Furthermore, Nietzsche writes about really complex ideas that are just hard to explain, and his mental health became obsolete. He suffered from stomach cramps, which didn’t allow him to eat much, and he took medications for it, but the medications caused insomnia so he could hardly sleep. He also suffered from constant migraines that were so bad that doctors told him he should not use his eyes for any length of time (then he would write for hours anyway). Nietzsche, therefore, did not have much a romantic or social life, and he never found anyone who he felt truly understood him. Kaufmann, the book’s editor, describes Nietzsche as a man who wrote out of his profound loneliness.
Eventually, with everything taken together, Nietzsche literally went insane, was institutionalized, and died in 1900 not knowing who he was or what he had accomplished. Ironically, for a man who believed that pity was one of the worst human traits, I find him to be a man most pitiable.
So, that’s my review of The Portable Nietzsche. 1/5 stars. I only recommend it to people who actually want to know what Nietzsche was about, or for people who want to criticize him – and maybe only for people who can read his works in German.
July 29, 2019
It feels kind of strange to give a star rating to the collected works of Friedrich Nietzsche, but whatever. If these big shot philosophers tryna be dead in two-thousand nineteen, they just asking to get roasted by goodreads nation. Or repped hard. Real hard.
I found Fred's raving-crank writing style very entertaining. I'm not a philosophy student, so I didn't read this (this collection includes the complete texts of most of his major works and selections of several others) looking to dissect it or judge it against the other big-time thinkers. Anyway, I think most of dude's ideas have been absorbed into Western culture over the past 100-plus years; nothing here was new or shocking. Nietzsche strikes me as a contrarian more than anything else. He contradicts himself a lot. He spends a lot of time fearlessly shitting on the titans of 19th century thought, the Greeks, Christianity. Good stuff. He loved Dostoyevski, so that's points in my book. Anybody don't like Fydo can take a damn hike!
Entertaining stuff, overall. Zarathustra got kind of long-winded. The whole biblical/fable/epic poem kind of style got pretty old. I liked his critiques the best. Nietzsche was totally punk. Recommended.
I found Fred's raving-crank writing style very entertaining. I'm not a philosophy student, so I didn't read this (this collection includes the complete texts of most of his major works and selections of several others) looking to dissect it or judge it against the other big-time thinkers. Anyway, I think most of dude's ideas have been absorbed into Western culture over the past 100-plus years; nothing here was new or shocking. Nietzsche strikes me as a contrarian more than anything else. He contradicts himself a lot. He spends a lot of time fearlessly shitting on the titans of 19th century thought, the Greeks, Christianity. Good stuff. He loved Dostoyevski, so that's points in my book. Anybody don't like Fydo can take a damn hike!
Entertaining stuff, overall. Zarathustra got kind of long-winded. The whole biblical/fable/epic poem kind of style got pretty old. I liked his critiques the best. Nietzsche was totally punk. Recommended.
March 20, 2024
I really like Walter Kaufmann's translations, but I have some issues with his editorial choices for this collection. For one, the inclusion of Thus Spoke Zarathustra in its entirety strikes me as unnecessary, especially when Beyond Good and Evil and Genealogy of Morality are given comparatively short shrift. Yes it is Nietzsche's most popular book, but it is also—as WK mentions himself in the editorial note—his most overwrought and needlessly lengthy.
I also have an issue with the selection of aphorisms, notes, and letters. WK has a clearly polemical intent; he wants to rescue Nietzsche from his ultra-right, anti-semitic admirers and downplay the most disturbing elements of his philosophy. The result is a bowdlerized Nietzsche, palatable to existentialists and (eventually) postmodernists who like his flux-y, everything-is-in-a-state-of-becoming critique of the Plato-to-Kant tradition.
Ultimately I just have a different set of priorities as a reader. I'm less interested in rescuing Nietzsche from fascism and more interested in seeing how his critique of philosophy intertwines with his creepy, authoritarian musings. Same goes for Heidegger.
I also have an issue with the selection of aphorisms, notes, and letters. WK has a clearly polemical intent; he wants to rescue Nietzsche from his ultra-right, anti-semitic admirers and downplay the most disturbing elements of his philosophy. The result is a bowdlerized Nietzsche, palatable to existentialists and (eventually) postmodernists who like his flux-y, everything-is-in-a-state-of-becoming critique of the Plato-to-Kant tradition.
Ultimately I just have a different set of priorities as a reader. I'm less interested in rescuing Nietzsche from fascism and more interested in seeing how his critique of philosophy intertwines with his creepy, authoritarian musings. Same goes for Heidegger.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 249 reviews