Single Idea 24136

[catalogued under 23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 8. Eternal Recurrence]

Full Idea

I conduct the great test: who will endure the thought of eternal recurrence?

Gist of Idea

Who can endure the thought of eternal recurrence?

Source

Friedrich Nietzsche (Unpublished Notebooks 1884-85 [1884], 25[290])

Book Reference

Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'Fragments from 1884-85 (v 15)', ed/tr. Loeb,P.S./Tinsley,D.F. [Stanford 2022], p.74


A Reaction

He sometimes talks as if eternal recurrence were a cosmic fact, but we should definitely ignore that. This idea captures his idea best, I think - that we should try to live with the prospect of recurrence always in mind. A type of existentialism.