Or possibly: "(I should have been a piano teacher, and had a house full of children.)"

April 22, 2010 3:59 PM

I am no longer sure if I dreamed this passage from Nietzsche or not, and may be losing my mind. Does it exist?

For years I've thought of a passage that I recalled from either Ecce Homo or one of N's letters to Lou Salomé, something like an aside to the effect of "I should have taught piano and had a house with children." Or words to that effect, a moment of regret over the course of his life. I remembered it counterpointing the performance of greatness in EH. Now I can't find it -- not there, not in the letters that I've got or his other books (so far), not online, and not even in that entertaining tissue of lies My Sister and I. Does this ring a bell with any of his readers out there? Am I missing an obvious source? Did I read this in a dream or something and gradually conflate it with reality?

posted by finnb to Religion & Philosophy (2 answers total)

I can't place this quote, but it does sound like something NZ would have said. He expressed regrets about his solitary nature.
posted by ovvl at 7:27 PM on April 22, 2010

Also, Nietzsche would probably have been an awful parent. Too serious.
posted by ovvl at 3:42 PM on April 24, 2010