The Seduction of Words

"I shall repeat a hundred times: we really ought to free ourselves from the seduction of words."
- Frederick Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, #16, 1886

Nietzsche can seduce you with words ... so beware.


"A very popular error: having the courage of one's convictions; rather, it is a matter of having the courage for an attack on one's convictions!!!"
- Frederick Nietzsche, Werke, XVI, p. 318.

In 2016, I have been quite consistently reading and studying the life, works, and philosophy of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900). My hypertext notebook about Nietzsche includes some of my research and many quotations from Nietzsche. I first read Nietzsche in 1964, and since then many times in the past decades. Surprisingly, I don't remember my philosophy teachers (1962-1966) talking much about Nietzsche.


I share most of Nietzsche's views on Judeo-Christian-Moslem beliefs and practices.

I am currently reading:

Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography. By Rüdiger Safranski. Translated by Shelley Frisch. W.W. Norton and Co., Reprint Edition, 2003. Index, 416 pages. ISBN: 978-0393323801. VSCL.

Basic Writings of Nietzsche. By Friedrich Nietzsche. Translated and Edited, with Commentaries by Walter Kaufmann. New York, Modern Library, 1966, 1968. Indexes pp 804-845, 845 pages. ISBN: B00E28VDX0 for the 1996 Edition, with and introduction by Peter Gay. I use the 1968 version. This text includes: The Birth of Tragedy, Beyond Good and Evil, On the Genealogy of Morals, The Case of Wagner, Ecce Homo, and Aphorisms. Each book has an introduction. Includes biographical notes. Separate indexes for each book. I use a Modern Library hardbound 1968 version of this work, and the very inexpensive Kindle E-book version, VSCL.

Nietzsche: The Man and his Philosophy. By R. J. Hollingdale. Cambridge University Press, 2nd Edition, 2001. 288 pages. ISBN: 9780521002950. VSCL. 

Flee Into Concealment

"Rather, go away, Flee into concealment. And have your masks and subtlety, that you may be mistaken for what you are not, or feared a little. And don't forget the garden, the garden with golden trelliswork. And have people around you who are as a garden──or as music on the waters in the evening, when the day is turning into memories. Choose the good solitude, the free, playful, light solitude that gives you, too, the right to remain good in some sense."
- Frederick Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, #25, 1886

"Solitude, though it may be silent as light, is like light, the mightiest of agencies; for solitude is essential to man. All men come into this world alone and leave it alone."
- Thomas De Quincey 

"Seek silence.
Gladden in silence.
Adore silence.

As one progresses on the path, one seeks silence more and more.
It will be a great comfort, a tremendous source of solace and peace.

Once you find deep solitude and calm, there will be a great gladness in your heart.
Here finally is the place where you need neither defense nor offense -- the place where you can truly be open.
There will be bliss, wonder, the awe of attaining something pure and sacred.

After that, you will feel adoration of silence.
This is the peace that seems to elude so many.
This is the beauty of Tao."
- Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao Daily Meditations 

Solitude: Quotations, Sayings, Poems