[A]ttacking to me is a proof of goodwill and, in certain circumstances, of gratitude. By means of it, I do honour to a thing, I distinguish a thing; whether I associate my name with that of an institution or a person, by being aginst or for either, is all the same to me.”

Friedrich Nietzsche, “Why I am So Wise”, Ecce Homo

After I mentioned walking Nietzsche’s Path during my trip to Eze, and confessed that I’ve never read Nietzsche, one of my friends who’s a huge fan of Nietzsche immediately offered to lend me this book. Since I’ve already walked the path that Nietzsche literally walked on, I thought it would be interesting to also metaphorically walk through his life through his biography.

Ecce Homo is Nietzsche’s autobiography and also his last work – written just before he had a mental collapse. In it, Nietzsche explains to his readers why he is so wise (the title of the chapter is, literally, “Why I Am So Wise”), why he is so clever, why he writes such excellent books, and why he is a fatality. The chapter “Why I Write Such Excellent Books” forms the main bulk of the book,

It’s easy to look at the chapter titles and think that Nietzsche is a self-important person, but his autobiography reveals that things are a lot more complicated. My impression of Nietzsche after reading this book was that Nietzsche’s self-confidence also comes with an instinctive defence against the world, the feeling that to avoid the feeling of rejection, one must stand above them all. To me, that’s why he places so much emphasis on the fact that he did not write any of his “attacks” out of malice.

There is one thing I don’t understand, and one thing that makes me very upset in this book. The thing I don’t understand is why Nietzsche keeps talking about how is a German but also a Pole. I feel like I need to know more about German culture at that time to know why he’s so intent on distinguishing himself from other Germans.

The thing that made me upset was his remarks on women. In the book, he writes that “”The emancipation of women,” – this is the instinctive hatred of physiologically botched – that is to say, barren – women for those of their sisters who are well constituted.” I’m sorry, but what? I googled Nietzsche’s views on women and apparently he respected them (and according to my friend who is a fan of Nietzsche, you have to read more of his work to properly understand his opinions), but it’s impossible for me to see any respect in these words.

Anyway, this was an interesting book. I don’t think that I’ll be reading anymore Nietzsche after this, given the size of my TBR list, but it was interesting trying to walk a mile in his shoes.