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Single Idea 18289

[filed under theme 16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 3. Reference of 'I' ]

Full Idea

You say 'I' and you are proud of this word. But greater than this - although you will not believe in it - is your body and its great intelligence, which does not say 'I' but performs 'I'.

Gist of Idea

Forget the word 'I'; 'I' is performed by the intelligence of your body

Source

Friedrich Nietzsche (Thus Spake Zarathustra [1884], 1.05)

Book Ref

Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'Thus Spake Zarathustra', ed/tr. Hollingdale,R.J. [Penguin 1969], p.62

A Reaction

I'm not sure if I understand this, but I offer it as a candidate for the most profound idea ever articulated about personal identity.

The 23 ideas from 'Thus Spake Zarathustra'

18287 People now find both wealth and poverty too much of a burden [Nietzsche]
18286 The greatest experience possible is contempt for your own happiness, reason and virtue [Nietzsche]
18288 Heaven was invented by the sick and the dying [Nietzsche]
18290 But what is the reasoning of the body, that it requires the wisdom you seek? [Nietzsche]
18289 Forget the word 'I'; 'I' is performed by the intelligence of your body [Nietzsche]
18291 Virtues can destroy one another, through jealousy [Nietzsche]
18292 I can only believe in a God who can dance [Nietzsche]
18293 The noble man wants new virtues; the good man preserves what is old [Nietzsche]
18294 The state coldly claims that it is the people, but that is a lie [Nietzsche]
18295 If you want friends, you must be a fighter [Nietzsche]
18296 An enduring people needs its own individual values [Nietzsche]
18297 We created meanings, to maintain ourselves [Nietzsche]
18298 Not being a god is insupportable, so there are no gods! [Nietzsche]
18299 The will is constantly frustrated by the past [Nietzsche]
18300 Whenever we have seen suffering, we have wanted the revenge of punishment [Nietzsche]
18301 We only really love children and work [Nietzsche]
18302 Man and woman are deeply strange to one another! [Nietzsche]
18303 Reject wisdom that lacks laughter [Nietzsche]
18304 Saints want to live as they desire, or not to live at all [Nietzsche]
18305 To love truth, you must know how to lie [Nietzsche]
18306 We don't want heaven; now that we are men, we want the kingdom of earth [Nietzsche]
18307 I want my work, not happiness! [Nietzsche]
20757 The powerful self behind your thoughts and feelings is your body [Nietzsche]