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  1. THE DANGER IN HAPPINESS.--"Everything now turns out best for me, I now love every fate:--who would like to be my fate?"

From Beyond Good and Evil. I wondered if anyone could share some wisdom about this. In order to keep this from being removed for opinion-based, any interpretation should be backed by some credible reference or body of work.

My personal take is that he is pointing to the dangers of self-centered happiness, but I couldn’t find any other reference outside of my own head. In fact, when searching for any insight on any of his aphorisms in Beyond Good and Evil, I find the resources available painfully limited, especially given the vast amount available on other Nietzsche work.

Essentially, my request is for an explanation of the above quote or for a reference to an explanation.

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  • Perhaps there are those who would covet any happiness you might have. Like your gold and other valuables you hold dear, best to keep it under lock and key. – Bread Jan 20 at 20:11
  • Sounds a lot like positive thinking. A trashcan idea. But it might be a sarcasm, who knows? – rus9384 Jan 21 at 4:00
  • @rus9384 Can you elaborate? I read it as a condemnation. – dgo Jan 21 at 20:26
  • @dgo Well, positive thinking is to think that everything is good whatever happens. Even an apocalypse. A nonsensical idea. This phrase seems to promote that idea. But I am not even sure Nietzsche was serious here. Does not seem to match his other philosophy. – rus9384 Jan 21 at 21:22
  • @rus9384 That’s interesting. I don’t read it that way at all, but I appreciate your comment nonetheless. – dgo Jan 22 at 13:27
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Actually, this is quite easy to understand, especially if you take slightly bigger excerpt from Chapter 4 like bellow.

As usual in his works, Nietzsche is fighting against spirit of content, seeking of peace, slave mentality, priestly morality of obeying (monk morality), modesty, humility . It is well known that Nietzsche was seeking road to Übermensch. For Nietzsche (and for Übermensch) life was a struggle to improve himself and gain more power (Will to power).

Therefore, for Nietzsche, happiness was not to have easy life, life without struggle ("Everything now turns out best for me") and to stoically accept and be content with anything ("I now love every fate"). Instead, happiness was to have passion and strength to meet life's obstacles and overcome them, thus becoming better. It is compatible with his famous maxim What does not kill me makes me stronger.

  1. THE DISAPPOINTED ONE SPEAKS--"I listened for the echo and I heard only praise".

  2. We all feign to ourselves that we are simpler than we are, we thus relax ourselves away from our fellows.

  3. A discerning one might easily regard himself at present as the animalization of God.

  4. Discovering reciprocal love should really disenchant the lover with regard to the beloved. "What! She is modest enough to love even you? Or stupid enough? Or--or---"

  5. THE DANGER IN HAPPINESS.--"Everything now turns out best for me, I now love every fate:--who would like to be my fate?"

  6. Not their love of humanity, but the impotence of their love, prevents the Christians of today--burning us.

  7. The pia fraus is still more repugnant to the taste (the "piety") of the free spirit (the "pious man of knowledge") than the impia fraus. Hence the profound lack of judgment, in comparison with the Church, characteristic of the type "free spirit"--as ITS non-freedom.

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  • Nietzsche did not think of himself as of Übermensch. Also, I do not see that he somehow got power. Do dead have power? And he predicted that his ideas will not be popular prior to his death. Also, I don't get why do you associate "Everything now turns out best for me" with an easy life. Everything is literally everything, even your own death. Don't see what do other aphorisms have to do with this one. They are not arranged as being the continuation of each other. But I guess the quotes there are not without purpose. – rus9384 Jan 22 at 6:38
  • @rus9384 I never said he did. But Übermensch was goal, and both for Nietzsche and Übermensch only purpose of life is struggle to better themselves. "Everything now turns out best for me" is contemplative life, without struggle. Think for example about life of Zen monk . He accepts everything - Nietzsche considered this as a slave mentality . All aphorisms have single line of thought and idea trough them. – rs.29 Jan 22 at 8:30
  • The problem is that it's a single aphorism. Therefore, as you also say, it's a single thought. And not two distinct thoughts, as you suggest. "Everything is best" means there is no difference between any outcome. Say, one asks you what wil you eat. And you tell them "Everything is best for me". I know Nietzsche considers that a slave mentality. And positive thinking is what I oppose too. – rus9384 Jan 22 at 8:35
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    Thank you very much for that answer. It’s very interesting to me, because somehow I hadn’t quite realized that those aphorisms all fell next to one another like that, despite those being some of my favorite maxims and one’s that I understood the least. I haven’t read the whole book in 20 years, but have considered the maxims repeatedly. This gives me a place to think from, and I think I will have to read the whole thing again. Thanks again! – dgo Jan 22 at 13:25
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    @dgo My pleasure – rs.29 Jan 22 at 19:37

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