The Joyful Wisdom by Friedrich Nietzsche
by Loyal Books
January 2, 2024 11:00 am
The Joyful Wisdom (later translated as The Gay Science), written in 1882, just before Zarathustra, is rightly judged to be one of Nietzsche’s best books. Here the essentially grave and masculine face of the poet-philosopher is seen to light up and suddenly break into a delightful smile. The warmth and kindness that beam from his features will astonish those hasty psychologists who have never divined that behind the destroyer is the creator, and behind the blasphemer the lover of life. In the retrospective valuation of his work which appears in Ecce Homo the author himself observes with truth that the fourth book, “Sanctus Januarius,” deserves especial attention: “The whole book is a gift from the Saint, and the introductory verses express my gratitude for the most wonderful month of January that I have ever spent.” Book fifth “We Fearless Ones”, the Appendix “Songs of Prince Free-as-a-Bird,” and the Preface, were added to the second edition in 1887.
Recent Episodes
00 – Editorial Note and Preface
11 months ago01 – Jest, Ruse and Revenge: A Prelude in Rhyme
11 months ago02 – Book First, Part 1
11 months ago03 – Book First, Part 2
11 months ago04 – Book Second, Part 1
11 months ago05 – Book Second, Part 2
11 months ago06 – Book Third, Part 1
11 months ago07 – Book Third, Part 2
11 months ago08 – Book Fourth: Sanctus Januarius, Part 1
11 months ago09 – Book Fourth: Sanctus Januarius, Part 2
11 months ago