When Nietzsche Wept: A Novel Of Obsession

by Irvin D. Yalom

As far back as I can remember, I’ve been frightened by the empty spaces inside of me. And my aloneness has nothing to do with the presence, or absence, of people. Do you know what I mean?”

At times I think I’m the most alone man in existence. And, like you, it has nothing to do with the presence of others—in fact, I hate others who rob me of my solitude and yet do not truly offer me company.”

“By not holding dear the things I hold dear! Sometimes I gaze so far into life that I suddenly look around and see that no one has accompanied me, and that my sole companion is time.”

“Living safely is dangerous.

I think he means I am in danger of losing my true self, or of not becoming who I am. But who am I?

Deep concerns about finitude, the death of God, isolation, purpose, freedom—deep

finally, there are things one does not tell even oneself! Surely

have believed that life is a spark between two identical voids, the darkness before birth and the one after death.”

leaves no doubt that the greatest part of our memory and mental processes is outside consciousness.

only this instant is real. In the end, we experience only ourselves in the present moment.

Montaigne’s essay on death—where he advises us to live in a room with a window overlooking a cemetery? It clears one’s head, he claims,

and keeps life’s priorities in perspective.

mental life of primitive man still operates in dreams.”

Does unobserved activity have meaning?”

friendship: two who join together in a search for some higher truth.

What is immortal is this life, this moment.

There is no afterlife, no goal toward which this life points, no apocalyptic tribunal or judgment. This moment exists forever, and you, alone, are your only audience.”

Can duty take precedence over your love for yourself and for your own quest for unconditional freedom?

Nietzsche had said that a new self has to be built on the ashes of his old life.

‘Choose the right enemy.’

Once I understood that I must wrestle with the real enemy—time, aging, death—then

but simply a fellow traveler trudging through the cycle of life.

‘time’s appetite.’

“Amor fati—love your fate.

I, like you, have lusts, and no greater lust than for the perfect friendship,

‘Offer a suffering friend a resting place,’ he said, ‘but take care it be a hard bed or field cot.’ ”

we’re all fellow sufferers unable to see each other’s truth.”