119.Thus Spake Zarathustra. -- Nietzsche

Reader86

"I love him who desireth not too many virtues. One virtue is more of a virtue than two, because it is more of a knot for one’s destiny to cling to."

This quote occurs early in Thus Spake Zarathustra.

I have always wondered exactly what Nietzsche means when he says that it's better to have one virtue than several, as it's "more of a knot for one's destiny to cling to". I don't think Nietzsche means by virtue what we normally think of it today.

When googling "definition of virtue": behaviour showing high moral standards.

Googling "Examples of virtues": Honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and prudence are all examples of virtues.

I don't see why one should ideally only posses one of these attributes. I don¨'t actually see why lacking ANY of these would be preferably to having them all.

In the chapter "Joys and passions" he has several interesting remarks about virtues, hinting us to what he means.

    My brother, when thou hast a virtue, and it is thine own virtue, thou hast it in common with no one.

This suggests that virtues are something deeply personal. Like something only you as a person can enact in your own life, and anybody else could perhaps mimic your behavior, but it would be slightly different as they would be a slightly different person of course (or a distinctly different person). Your virtue as an individual, must necessarily be unique, because you are unique.

But I don't really understand it still. Why can't "courage" be a virtue for example, even as it is individualized? Obviously, as every person is different, their threshold for what constitutes courage is different. It would be courage for a small and physically weak man to take on a giant in battle, as opposed to what it is for another giant of the same size. But we would still just call it "courage"... Ok, well I suppose that makes sense actually.

    Let thy virtue be too high for the familiarity of names, and if thou must speak of it, be not ashamed to stammer about it.

Suggests virtue is something truly grandiose!

    Once hadst thou passions and calledst them evil. But now hast thou only thy virtues: they grew out of thy passions.

Ok, let's think about that. Let's say a person's passion could be his fondness for violence for example. Understandably he might come to think of such passions as "evil". But how will any virtue grow out of such evil passions? Does it for example mean that he learns self-control as such? And that is his virtue which "grew out" of his passion for violence? I guess that makes sense. But I suppose it could also be that he learned to direct his inclination for violence for example, to other ends (as I understand Nietzsche he is not against violence as an intrinsic aspect of human nature.) With everything that Nietzsche writes in this book, there is never a one-way-only to interpret it.

    Thou implantedst thy highest aim into the heart of those passions: then became they thy virtues and joys.

This is the following line.

    My brother, if thou be fortunate, then wilt thou have one virtue and no more: thus goest thou easier over the bridge.

    Illustrious is it to have many virtues, but a hard lot; and many a one hath gone into the wilderness and killed himself, because he was weary of being the battle and battlefield of virtues.

This gets back to the quote in the opening. It is apparently easier to go over the bridge with only one virtue.

The second one is really interesting. What on earth is a good example, even theoretically, of someone killing themselves because they was "weary of being the battle and battlefield of virtues." ? What kind of virtues are there that "clash" to the degree that they constitute such a major detriment to the person?

With everything in life, things are much easier to understand when you have examples to elaborate a concept. But I struggle really hard to find examples to elaborate on Nietzsche's concept of virtue, and thus I don¨'t really understand it.

What do you think Nietzsche means by virtue?

Are there any good examples of people living a virtuous life, or doing virtuous deeds, that align with Nietzsche's concept of virtue? Are there any examples of people, today or through history (preferably today) that can help us understand Nietzsche's concept of virtue?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Nietzsc ... o_many_virtues_one/

Reader86

杨译：我爱那不想要有太多德性的人。一种德性比两种德性更是德性，因为它更是连接厄运的纽带。

孙译：我爱那人，他并不愿意拥有太多的德性。一种德性胜于两种德性，因为一种德性更能成为祸患所系的关节。

黄译：我爱那不愿有太多道德的人，一种道德优于两种道德，因为它是悬挂厄运的多绳结。

钱译：我爱那样一种人，他不愿具有太多的道德。一个道德胜于两个道德，因为一个道德是扣住命运的更牢固的结。

前3位是哲学教授

Reader86

《查拉图斯特拉如是说》

"I love him who desireth not too many virtues. One virtue is more of a virtue than two, because it is more of a knot for one’s destiny to cling to."

这个virtue可不是德性，或者道德，而是热情，欲望和意愿加在一起，这里就是做好事的愿望。

Reader86 译：如果一个人有做好事的愿望，我爱他，只要他把一件好事做好，而不是两件。做一件好事比做好两件好事更容易成全这件好事，因为人的意愿更像一个绳结，与命运束在一起。

virtue

1，a quality considered morally good or desirable in a person.
"patience is a virtue"

Similar:
goodness

2，(in traditional Christian angelology) the seventh highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy.

1说明Virtue是一个概括的词，只要是好事儿，就可以用这个词；

2说明Virtue是一个具体的词，比如，在基督教中有所指的那几个美德。

Reader86

上面教授们都把virtue翻成道德，德性了！错！

1， 一般说来，virtue 是美德，不是道德。

2， 把“道德”放在这里， 惨不忍睹，简直不 make sense。