Amor Fati or To Love one's Fate. I am embarrassed to admit that I struggle with Nietzche. His writing seems erratic and I find it difficult to follow. I have been led to the concept of Amor Fati recently while doing Stoic research on regret, something I have been struggling with. Learning his philosophy in tid bits like this is better than not at all I suppose... I consider FN as a true Ubermensch, or "over-man". The guy was just on another level, IMO an absolute genius. To love ones fate, "not mearly bear what is necessary". This line really stood out to me. In the West (as well as other predominantly Christians areas) We are taught to bare the weight of our own burden and dredge on. This can be easily seen in the fact that The symbol of perfection to so many is Jesus Christ...who despite the crushing weight, carried the cross several hundred meters before being crucified. I think that story symbolizes how many people live their lives...they pick up what responsibility they can bear and suffer their way towards the finish line before dying of a heart attack on their way to the office. Amor Fati seems very Stoic to me but different in a way I am having a hard time describing. I think maybe that the Stoics were all about the middle way, indifference, remaining calm etc etc and here FN is more recommending that all fate should be met with enthusiasm. IDK though I am still learning, what do you all think? A brief introduction to the concept
I think you misunderstand Christianity. We are not to "dredge on" but to rejoice in the days of our suffering. Romans 5:3-5 "3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." A Christian life is not a miserable one, no matter the situation. It is joyous life.
My great grand father was his professor of philosophy, himself a student of Stoicism. While I have all his books, I must admit I've never been able to get beyond page 1.
He is extremely tough to read. I am basically forced to learn about his philosophy via online lectures from people that have a better understanding than I.