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Friedrich_Nietzsche - Untimely_Meditations_(Cambridge_Texts_in_the_History_of_Philosophy__1997)

Friedrich_Nietzsche - Untimely_Meditations_(Cambridge_Texts_in_the_History_of_Philosophy__1997)

Friedrich_Nietzsche - Untimely_Meditations_(Cambridge_Texts_in_the_History_of_Philosophy__1997)

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On <strong>the</strong> uses and disadvantages <strong>of</strong> history for lifeliv<strong>in</strong>g knowledge <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> history <strong>of</strong> great men, you will learn from it asupreme commandment: to become mature and to flee from thatparalyz<strong>in</strong>g upbr<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> present age which sees its advantage <strong>in</strong>prevent<strong>in</strong>g your growth so as to rule and exploit you to <strong>the</strong> full whileyou are still immature. And if you want biographies, do hot desirethose which bear <strong>the</strong> legend ' Herr So-and-So and his age' , but thoseupon whose title-page <strong>the</strong>re would stand 'a fighter aga<strong>in</strong>st his age'.Satiate your soul with Plutarch and when you believe <strong>in</strong> his heroesdare at <strong>the</strong> same time to believe <strong>in</strong> yourself. With a hundred suchmen - raised <strong>in</strong> this unmodern way, that is to say become matureand accustomed to <strong>the</strong> heroic - <strong>the</strong> whole noisy sham-culture <strong>of</strong> ourage could now be silenced fo r ever. -7When <strong>the</strong> historical sense reigns without restra<strong>in</strong>t, and all its consequencesare realized, it uproots <strong>the</strong> future because it destroys illusionsand robs <strong>the</strong> th<strong>in</strong>gs that exist <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> atmosphere <strong>in</strong> which alone<strong>the</strong>y can live. Historical justice, even when it is genu<strong>in</strong>e and practisedwith <strong>the</strong> purest <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>tentions, is <strong>the</strong>refore a dreadful virtue because italways underm<strong>in</strong>es <strong>the</strong> liv<strong>in</strong>g th<strong>in</strong>g and br<strong>in</strong>gs it down: its judgmentis always annihilat<strong>in</strong>g. If <strong>the</strong> historical drive does not also conta<strong>in</strong> adrive to construct, if <strong>the</strong> purpose <strong>of</strong> destroy<strong>in</strong>g and,clear<strong>in</strong>g is not toallow a future already alive <strong>in</strong> anticipation to raise its house on <strong>the</strong>ground thus liberated, if justice alone prevails, <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>st<strong>in</strong>ct fo rcreation will be enfeebled and discouraged. A religion, for example,which is <strong>in</strong>tended to be transformed <strong>in</strong>to historical knowledgeunder <strong>the</strong> hegemony <strong>of</strong> pure historical justice, a religion which is<strong>in</strong>tended to be understood through and through as an object <strong>of</strong>science and learn<strong>in</strong>g, will when this process is at an end also befo und to have been destroyed. The reason is that historical verificationalways br<strong>in</strong>gs to light so much that is false, crude, <strong>in</strong>human,absurd, violent that <strong>the</strong> mood <strong>of</strong> pious illusion <strong>in</strong> which alone anyth<strong>in</strong>gthat wants to live can live necessarily crumbles away: fo r it isonly <strong>in</strong> love, only when shaded by <strong>the</strong> illusion produced by love, thatis to say <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> unconditional faith <strong>in</strong> right and perfection, that man iscreative. Anyth<strong>in</strong>g that constra<strong>in</strong>s a man to love less than unconditionallyhas severed <strong>the</strong> roots <strong>of</strong> his strength: he will wi<strong>the</strong>r away,that is to say become dishonest. In produc<strong>in</strong>g this effect, history is<strong>the</strong> anti<strong>the</strong>sis <strong>of</strong> art: and only if history can endure to be transformed<strong>in</strong>to a work <strong>of</strong> art will it perhaps be able to preserve <strong>in</strong>st<strong>in</strong>cts or even95

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