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Posted by Adam on 5/23/2008, 12:56 pm, in reply to "Re: What would it be like to personally meet Nietzsche???"
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I've always found the schism between Nietzsche's passionate, aggressive, and sometimes even hostile writings and his supposed gentle and reserved personality to be a rather interesting point. If we recognize this, then cetainly Nietzsche did too. Philosophers are only trying to justify and deal with the plights of their own lives. They write not to come to a sense of truth, just a sense of reconciliation with the way their lives are. Nietzsche's writing seems chiefly concerned with his quest to deal with his own personal sickliness, lonliness, personal sensitivity, and the loss of his religious faith.
It's in this way that I find Nietzsche's life very tragic. It's at the same time profound of course, that one introverted man's personal struggle to deal with his nature and situation in life could come to completely change the world. In a bitter twist of irony...only one quote comes to mind at the moment.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
--Previous Message--
: Nietzsche himself (I can't remember exactly
: where/maybe in his letters of
: correspondence?)spoke of his courteous and
: respectful manner of trafficking with others
: he (through his works) naturally would have
: kept as great of an amount of distance away
: from as possible despite these 'types' being
: exactly what he either repeatedly belittled
: or lambasted (again) in his works. The late
: lecturer Robert Solomon also characterized
: Nietzsche as perhaps showing far less flair
: in his temperament than he did in his
: writings, as being a kind, gentleman. The
: various rhythms and intensities found in his
: books would probably lead one to believe
: that, in person, he might have been the
: fiery orator-type, teeming with personality
: and captivating eccentricities a la Salvador
: Dali, although, in Nietzsche's case, far
: more genuine, I'd imagine.
:
: Still, I don't find it hard to fathom that
: he might have been acutely reserved in
: person as opposed to the Nietzsche portrayed
: in his works, most likely using all of his
: energy and brilliance as a means to make his
: thoughts radiate and not his personality,
: which I have little doubt he would have
: dismissed as being no more than affectation
: and pure 'show' --something better fit for
: 'the herd'.
:
: --Previous Message--
: There is an excellent book on this subject
: called Conversations with Nietzsche: A Life
: in the Words of His Contemporaries, edited
: by Sander Gilman. Oxford University Press,
: USA (1991). He was your typical shy and
: reserved intellectual, though apparently
: pretty warm if you met him taking his long
: walks in the mountains. There is also an
: interesting fictional account called When
: Nietzsche Wept by Irvin D. Yalom. Nietzsche
: famously visited many doctors for his
: neuralgia, headaches, bouts of pain, etc.
: Yalom imagines Nietzsche meeting with
: Freud's mentor in Vienna, and the two of
: them "inventing" psychotherapy,
: with the doctor and patient roles reversing
: in interesting ways.
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: This is interesting. I always assumed
: Nietzsche was a bit pompous in personality
: but this may be a mischaracterization.
: Anyone else have any ideas?
:
: --Previous Message--
:
: From the tenor of his personal letters and
: the stories people around him told( Lou
: Salome for example), his personality in
: person was so kind and humble that it
: bordered on timidity. His later works sound
: pompous because his philosophy rested as
: much in his style as it was in content. I
: think he wold be an excellent speaker but
: difficult to get close to. I admire his life
: but do not aspire to live like him.
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