"If Bernard Shaw anglicized the Übermensch, it was H. G. Wells, W. B. Yeats and Edwin Muir who arguably took him most seriously. Other writers, it is true, flirted with the idea without taking it or themselves at all seriously; thus James Joyce, being rather in the doldrums of 1903/4, found it satisfying to think of himself as "James Overman" (as he ironically signed himself) … Yeats, Wells and Muir were all fascinated by the idea, but rejected it for moral (Yeats) or political (Wells) reasons, or for a mixture of both (Muir). In short, the superman-idea filled a short-term emotional need; the events of 1914-18 destroyed not only Nietzsche's reputation in this country, but the world of which his myths had been a part."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Patrick Bridgwater, in "English Writers and Nietzsche" (1972), in Nietzsche: Imagery and Thought : A Collection of Essays (1978), edited by Malcolm Pasley, p. 254
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/%C3%9Cbermensch
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Übermensch
35 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Übermensch →
Related Quotes
"The following is an attempt to systematize alike the data of mysticism and the results of comparative religion. The s…"
"O my brothers, I dedicate and direct you to a new nobility: you shall become procreators and cultivators and sowers o…"
"Evolution is not finished; reason is not the last word nor the reasoning animal the supreme figure of Nature. As man …"
"W. B. Yeats was an instinctive "aristocrat"; he was also more deeply influenced by Nietzsche than any other English…"
"I hate the whole ubermensch, superman temptation that pervades science fiction. I believe no protagonist should be so…"
"He grew up in this way. He became enamored of the philosophy of Nietzsche. Your Honor, I have read almost everything …"
"In formulating a superman he is, on account of certain superior qualities inherent in him, exempted from the ordinary…"
"We'll know homo superior when he comes — by definition. He'll be the one we won't be able to euth."
"We were always afraid a mutant with superior intellectual powers would come along," Baines said reflectively. "A deev…"
"It never occurred to him to be spiritually won over to the enemy. Many moderns, inured to a weak worship of intellect…"