Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
THE SUFFERING OF GENIUS AND ITS VALUE. The artistic genius desires to give pleasure, but if his mind is on a very high plane he does not easily find anyone to share his pleasure; he offers entertainment but nobody accepts it. That gives him, in certain circumstances, a comically touching pathos; for he has no right to force pleasure on men. He pipes, but none will dance: can that be tragic?
Interpretation
What this quote means
Artistic geniuses seek to create beauty and pleasure but often struggle to connect with others who can appreciate their work.
Friedrich Nietzsche explores the plight of the artistic genius, highlighting the tension between their desire to share beauty and the reality that often, their creations are not fully appreciated. This creates a poignant mix of humor and sadness, as they strive to entertain and uplift others but find themselves isolated in their lofty pursuits. The quote suggests that genius may come with a sense of loneliness, as true appreciation of their work is rare.
Themes
GeniusArtIsolationPleasureCreationEntertainment
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the value of artistic expression and the challenges faced by artists, this quote highlights the struggle for recognition.
More from Friedrich Nietzsche
All quotes →That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
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Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.
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Watch them clamber, these swift monkeys! They clamber over one another and thus drag one another into the mud and the depth. They all want to get to the throne: that is their madness — as if happiness sat on the throne. Often, mud sits on the throne — and often the throne also on mud. Mad they all appear to me, clambering monkeys and overardent. Foul smells their idol, the cold monster: foul, they smell to me altogether, these idolators.
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Reason is the cause of our falsification of the evidence of the senses. In so far as the senses show becoming, passing away, change, they do not lie.
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The anarchist and the Christian have a common origin.
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