There is a wonderful passage in Nietzsche's Daybreak, about the ageing philosopher. 'Subject to the illusion of a great moral renewal and rebirth, he passes judgment on the work and course of his life, as though it were only now that he had been endowed with clear sight.' He 'considers himself permitted to take things easier and to promulgate decrees rather than demonstrate'; and the inspiration of ' this feeling of well-being anti these confident judgments is not wisdom but weariness'.

LRB 7 February 1991 | PDF Download