chinoise

Hi! Can anybody tell me what the following famous quote mean? In English, of course. I'm a zero in Nietsche. I've googled and found the quote, but not the meaning. Thanks in advance.


"If you stare into the Abyss long enough the Abyss stares back at you."

This is a German quote, so I hope it's the right place to put in here.

poukie

hi...first of all the writter exact name is Nietzsche!...i hate when someone does not wrote his name correctly...he is my favorite philosopher that's why

but please could you precise in wich book it is?? maybe i could answer...but i think it's more about his personal way...it's less a part of his philosophy as a part of his personal world...but i have to get more informations to really try to answer you :D

__________________
Il en est du romantisme fiévreux comme de la moule pas fraiche: quand on en abuse ça fait mal au coeur...Desproges

kirabell

I'd say it means that if you focus on the dark side of life, you will live into darkness. In other words it means that by focussing on our misery, we create our own misery. It's the nihilist version of "Always look at the bright side of life." Both our happiness and misery depend on how we apprehend life.

yvus

It also means that abyss "sees" the observer which looks into it, and that the time scale associated with that particular type of (abyssal) consciousness is "long" (at any rate, compared with our's).

"However, perhaps Nietzsche himself did not look deeply into the abyss long enough because he tiptoed back into the warm crevasses of his own illusory phantasms.."
(Otto Weininger)

AllAboutSport

To be sincere I haven't read Nietzsche that much...I'm kind of young and it's books are kind of pessimistic...and I don't feel like living any more after a Nietzsche reading session. However his brilliant thinking is forever impressing me.

In this case Nietzsche tries to explain that if you sink into a state of depression: "Get Strong !", otherwise you risk to never get out of the crisis and never see the opaque glim of happiness again.

dusio

I have studied Nietzsche's philosophy for a long time and I know that all Nietzsche's aphorisms has got the hidden meaning. I think that this is about strenght. If you will try as hard as you can, you will make everything possible. You need to interpret Nietzsche's words by His point of view. It is the only way to understand His philosophy. And, becouse you did not write the whole sentence, the missing part tells that if you fight with monsters you need to be carefull if you don't want to become one of them.

brionon

Hidden meanings? Nietzche was a Congenital Idiot !
Search for the hidden meaning. Take your time but
beware of falling onto an Abbess or into an Abyss.