Definitions HQ

Eternal recurrence (n.) first ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠strikes as disgust: not only the greatest men are too small, but the smallest man returns eternally too.

Eternal recurrence (n.) was ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠set by Nietzsche against the paralysing feeling of universal dissolution and incompleteness.

Eternal recurrence (n.) contains ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠more, Nietzsche claimed, than all the religions that despise this life as fleeting: it is the religion of religions.

Eternal recurrence (n.) is, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠at bottom, a symbol: if the moment is a revelation of being, it is already eternity, and recurrence only names it.

Eternal recurrence (n.) came ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠to Nietzsche in August 1881, by a great pyramid-shaped rock near Surlei on Lake Silvaplana; the moment he conceived it, he said, made recurrence bearable.

Eternal recurrence (n.) works ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠as an imperative with no content: live so that you must wish to live again, measuring every act by whether you could will it countless times.

Eternal recurrence (n.) may ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠cut the wrong way: perhaps the noblest natures perish of it and the basest accept it, since the rabble's plain appetite for life says yes first.

Eternal recurrence (n.) means ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠everything has returned, Sirius and the spider and this moonlight between the trees and this very thought: the hourglass of existence is turned over again and again.

Eternal recurrence (n.) without ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠memory would be empty: living innumerable times exactly alike is no better than living once if no life recalls or anticipates another.

Eternal recurrence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠philosophically as essential as it is questionable: it overwhelmed Nietzsche, and probably no one since has taken it seriously.