Christianity remains to this day the greatest misfortune of humanity.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
At a certain place in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, for example, he might feel that he is floating above the earth in a starry dome, with the dream of immortality in his heart; all the stars seem to glimmer around him, and the earth seems to sink ever deeper downwards.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote describes the transcendent experience of music that inspires feelings of immortality and connection to the universe.
In this quote, Friedrich Nietzsche captures the profound and transformative nature of music, particularly highlighting how Beethoven's Ninth Symphony can evoke a sense of soaring above the earthly realm. The imagery of floating in a starry dome symbolizes an ecstatic experience that brings sensations of hope, immortality, and connection to something greater than oneself, where earthly concerns fade away.
Themes
MusicBeethovenImmortalityTranscendenceArt
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the power of music in healing, one could reference this quote to emphasize its emotional impact.
More from Friedrich Nietzsche
All quotes →That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Watch them clamber, these swift monkeys! They clamber over one another and thus drag one another into the mud and the depth. They all want to get to the throne: that is their madness — as if happiness sat on the throne. Often, mud sits on the throne — and often the throne also on mud. Mad they all appear to me, clambering monkeys and overardent. Foul smells their idol, the cold monster: foul, they smell to me altogether, these idolators.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Reason is the cause of our falsification of the evidence of the senses. In so far as the senses show becoming, passing away, change, they do not lie.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
The anarchist and the Christian have a common origin.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
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