The Joyful Wisdom ("La Gaya Scienza")Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm
PhilosophyPhilosophy
The Joyful Wisdom ("La Gaya Scienza")
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm
Philosophy
science above art, it is after all, however, only from politeness that
he omits to speak of that which he places high above all science: the
"revealed truth," and the "eternal salvation of the soul,"—what are
ornament, pride, entertainment and security of life to him, in
comparison thereto? "Science is something of secondary rank, nothing
ultimate or unconditioned, no object of passion"—this judgment was kept
back in Leo's soul: the truly Christian judgment concerning science! In
antiquity its dignity and appreciation were lessened by the fact that,
even among its most eager disciples, the striving after _virtue_ stood
foremost, and that people thought they had given the highest praise to
knowledge when they celebrated it as the best means to virtue. It is
something new in history that knowledge claims to be more than a means.
124.
_In the Horizon of the Infinite._—We have left the land and have gone
aboard ship! We have broken down the bridge behind us,—nay, more, the
land behind us! Well, little ship! look out! Beside thee is the ocean;
it is true it does not always roar, and sometimes it spreads out like
silk and gold and a gentle reverie. But times will come when thou wilt
feel that it is infinite, and that there is nothing more frightful than
infinity. Oh, the poor bird that felt itself free, and now strikes
against the walls of this cage! Alas, if homesickness for the land
should attack thee, as if there had been more _freedom_ there,—and there
is no "land" any longer!
125.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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