Definitions HQ

The Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a commandment to act as though you had to relive your life innumerable times because in one way or another, you must recommence and relive it.

The Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a cyclical notion of time repeating itself not as identical, but, far more interesting, as similar.

The Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a necessity that must be willed: Only he who I am now can will the necessity of my return.

The Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a stand against transitoriness. Instead there is an eternity for everything. We are free to pour the most precious salves and wines into the sea because everything that has been is eternal: The sea will cast it up again.

The Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠concerned with a break with irreversible once and for all. It is a new kind of 'fatality', a vicious circle that suppresses every goal and meaning.

Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠grounded empirically in the insight that time is endless but space is not. Thus there is a ceaseless flux in endless time in finite space so you can only have a certain number of possible combinations of aggregates and therefore, these will recur.

The Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not a circle which makes the same return. It is in fact the opposite since it cannot be separated from a selection.

The Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the moment or the eternity which eliminates all that resist it.

The Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the same thing repeats itself but the wheel has an infinitely large radius so, so only when an infinitely long time has passed (that is, never) can the same thing happen at the same place and yet it is a wheel, it turns, and in accord with its idea it aims at the exhaustion of the qualitative manifold, without ever exhausting it in reality.

The Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠eternal: the sea will wash it up again.

Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the idea that all things return eternally, and ourselves with them: We have already existed times without number, and all things with us.

The Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the demon's whisper that you will live this life again innumerable times, every pain and joy, even this spider and this moonlight — would you curse him, or call him a god?

The Eternal recurrence (n.) lays ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the greatest weight on every action: the question 'Do you desire this once more and innumerable times more?'

The Eternal recurrence (n.) follows ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠if whatever can happen must already have happened, and this moment, knotted to all that follows, draws itself after it — must we not return eternally?

The Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the animals' song: everything goes, everything comes back; the wheel of being rolls eternally — the middle is everywhere, crooked is the path of eternity.

The Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠most nauseating in this: even the smallest human recurs eternally.

The Eternal recurrence (n.) brings ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠back this very life — "I will return, with this sun, this earth, this eagle, this snake — not to a new life or a better life or a similar life, but to this same and selfsame life."

The Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the closest approximation of a world of becoming to a world of being — the high point of the meditation.

The Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the thought of nihilism in its most terrible form: existence as it is, without meaning or aim, recurring inevitably with no finale of nothingness.

The Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the world blessing itself as what must eternally return, a becoming that knows no satiety, no surfeit, no fatigue — goalless, unless there is a goal in the happiness of the circle.