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Look at your habits. Were they shaped by countless small acts of cowardice and laziness, or by your courage and inventive reason?

Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science (1882), §308

Philosophy

The story behind the card

This is section 308 of The Gay Science, a book of short numbered passages that the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) published in 1882 and expanded in 1887. The section, in the book's fourth part, is headed “The history of each day”. It asks what your days are made of, and answers: your habits. After the question on the card comes the twist. However different the two kinds of life are, other people might praise both equally, and you might be just as useful to them either way. Praise, usefulness and respectability, Nietzsche says, may be enough for someone who only wants a good conscience, but not for you, who search hearts and know what a conscience is.

Türkçe oku
Alışkanlıklarına bak. Onları sayısız küçük korkaklık ve tembellik mi biçimlendirdi, yoksa cesaretin ve yaratıcı aklın mı?
Friedrich Nietzsche, Şen Bilim (1882), 308. bölüm

Bu satırlar Şen Bilim'in 308. bölümünde geçer. Alman filozof Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) kitabı 1882'de yayımladı, 1887'de genişletti. Kitap kısa, numaralı parçalardan oluşur; bu parça dördüncü kısımdadır ve başlığı “Her günün hikâyesi”dir. Nietzsche okura günlerinin neyden oluştuğunu sorar, yanıtı da kendisi verir: alışkanlıklarından. Karttaki sorunun ardından asıl iğneyi batırır: Bu iki hayat birbirinden ne kadar farklı olursa olsun, insanlar ikisini de aynı ölçüde övebilir, sen de her iki durumda onlara aynı yararı sağlayabilirsin. Övgü, yarar ve saygınlık, yalnızca vicdanı rahat olsun isteyen biri için yetebilir; ama yüreklerin içini okuyan, vicdanın ne olduğunu bilen senin için yetmez.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: The Gay Science
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