Quotation
Last reviewed:
“Without music, life would be an error.”
Friedrich Nietzsche · Genealogy and perspectivism · Modern · 1888
What does it mean?
A life without music would, he says, be an error, a false step in the design of a life, not a minor missing hobby. The maxim sits with his sense that affirmation is sensual and formed, not only argued. A rival reading hears a snob's ranking of the arts, or a claim that the unmusical life is morally void. The dart does not rank citizens. It says something about what he thinks a life needs if it is not to be a mistake. You can find the need false.
Did Friedrich Nietzsche really say this?
The library’s label is Paraphrase or translation. Kaufmann's English of a published maxim. Hollingdale's version says 'mistake' rather than 'error'. Both translate the same German dart. It is not a theory of aesthetics in one line.
Where it comes from
Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows §33, in Walter Kaufmann's translation
Approximate date: 1888.
How to use it
On a grey commute into Manchester, the difference between a journey with music and a journey that is only announcements is trivial, and it is also the sort of difference the maxim is willing to call an error. He is not advising you to skip a rent payment for a concert ticket. He is refusing a picture of life as correct when it is only efficient.
A mindset reading
A maxim is a dart. Do not build a philosophy of education on it, and do not sneer at people whose form of affirmation is not music. The German is secure. The lifestyle reading is yours.
Understand the philosophy
Maxims and Arrows is the opening of Twilight of the Idols, short on purpose. Section 33 belongs with his praise of what affirms, against what he thinks of as life-denying ideals. It is not a contribution to musicology.
- meaning
- happiness
- mind
FAQ
What does it mean?
A life without music would, he says, be an error, a false step in the design of a life, not a minor missing hobby. The maxim sits with his sense that affirmation is sensual and formed, not only argued. A rival reading hears a snob's ranking of the arts, or a claim that the unmusical life is morally void. The dart does not rank citizens. It says something about what he thinks a life needs if it is not to be a mistake. You can find the need false.
Did Friedrich Nietzsche really say this?
Paraphrase or translation. Kaufmann's English of a published maxim. Hollingdale's version says 'mistake' rather than 'error'. Both translate the same German dart. It is not a theory of aesthetics in one line.
Which work is it in?
Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows §33, in Walter Kaufmann's translation Approximate date: 1888.