Friedrich Nietzsche

Life and writing

Friedrich Nietzsche lived from 1844 to 1900. He taught classical philology at Basel before leaving his professorship in 1879. His philosophical writing developed through criticism of inherited assumptions about culture, morality and religion, often examining the motives behind judgments that appear self-evident.

Human, All-Too-Human appeared in 1878 and marked a turn toward short numbered passages. A complete aphorism may make an argument, stage an objection or expose a tension rather than settle a question. The archive preserves whole numbered units in historical English translations; neighbouring passages and the larger work help readers assess the claim being made.

Reading this voice

Begin with a complete numbered passage, then follow the source reference into the same edition linked below. Helen Zimmern’s 1909 Part I and Paul V. Cohn’s 1913 Part II have different translation choices. Do not treat a historical argument as a fact merely because it is memorable. Some passages contain dated social assumptions. The approximate 1872 timeline coordinate is the midpoint of 1844–1900, not the composition date of the words.

Subjects to explore

Words to begin with

• The Writings of Acquaintances and Their Readers.—We read the writings of our acquaintances (friends and enemies) in a double sense, inasmuch as our perception constantly whispers, "That is something of himself, a remembrance of his inward being, his experiences, his talents," and at the same time another kind of perception endeavours to estimate the profit of the work in itself, what valuation it merits apart from its author, how far it will enrich knowledge. These two manners of reading and estimating interfere with each other, as may naturally be supposed. And a conversation with a friend will only bear good fruit of knowledge when both think only of the matter under consideration and forget that they are friends.
• The Farce of Many Industrious Persons.—By an excess of effort they win leisure for themselves, and then they can do nothing with it but count the hours until the tale is ended.
• The Most Noble Virtue.—In the first era of the higher humanity courage is accounted the most noble virtue, in the next justice, in the third temperance, in the fourth wisdom. In which era do we live? In which do you live?