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Single Idea 24079

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 7. Existential Action ]

Full Idea

The secret of harvesting the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from existence is: live dangerously!

Gist of Idea

The best life is the dangerous life

Source

Friedrich Nietzsche (The Gay (Joyful) Science [1882], §283)

Book Ref

Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'The Joyful Science, and 1881-82 fragments (v 6)', ed/tr. Del Caro,Adrian [Stanford 2023], p.167

A Reaction

I treasured this quotation when I was 17, but failed to live up to it.

The 17 ideas with the same theme [existentialist attitude to decisions and ethics]:

22027 Life isn't given to us like a novel - we write the novel [Novalis]
20747 What matters is not right choice, but energy, earnestness and pathos in the choosing [Kierkegaard]
16001 Life may be understood backwards, but it has to be lived forwards [Kierkegaard]
24079 The best life is the dangerous life [Nietzsche]
4504 Morality used to be for preservation, but now we can only experiment, giving ourselves moral goals [Nietzsche]
20106 Nietzsche was fascinated by a will that can turn against itself [Nietzsche, by Safranski]
20316 Every decision I make moves towards or away from fulfilled Existenz [Jaspers]
6571 When a man must choose between his mother and the Resistance, no theory can help [Sartre, by Fogelin]
3851 If I do not choose, that is still a choice [Sartre]
9242 Essential problems either risk death, or intensify the passion of life [Camus]
9246 Danger and integrity are not in the leap of faith, but in remaining poised just before the leap [Camus]
22342 Kantian existentialists care greatly for reasons for action, whereas Surrealists care nothing [Murdoch]
22351 Only a philosopher might think choices create values [Murdoch]
22502 Refraining from murder is not made good by authenticity or self-fulfilment [Foot]
4245 Ethical conviction must be to some extent passive, and can't just depend on the will and decisions [Williams,B]
4246 Taking responsibility won't cure ethical uncertainty by; we are uncertain what to decide [Williams,B]
6689 The key to existentialism: the way you make choices is more important than what you choose [Graham]