The questions that [Nietzsche] posed touch on
tragedy, laughter, suffering,
and the enjoyment of suffering,
wealth, and the freedom of the mind:
in general, the extreme states
the human mind can reach.

…His doctrine of dangerous life,
of lucid, unbound, contemptuous humanity,
is foreign to public struggles.
It concerns solitaries hostile to the universe.

In spite of the theatrical decors,
the distance from Hitler to Nietzsche
is that of a farmyard
to the Alpine peaks.

–excerpt, On Nietzsche, Notes, p. 285 by Georges Bataille,

May I express why I continue to be fascinated by the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche?  I cannot help myself.

What peaks may be human mind be capable of reaching?  We need to press ahead, to press on, toward a higher destination.  The tragedies triggered by the past ineptitude of homo sapiens materialize, day by day the future becomes today.

Nietzsche addresses the hubris, the narcissism, intellectual simplicity, as well as the emotional incoherence of “conservative” minded politicos and the uber-wealthy — whose interests they represent.  A tightening law-and-order noose, race based nativism, and war is familiar.  We’ve seen all of this before.

Between Hitler and Nietzsche lies a distance as great as between a manure strewn farmyard and the Alpine peaks.

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Time enough for a song.  There is always a tune to orient us on our journey for today.  Here is one composed by Jim Steinman, performed by Céline Dion: It’s All Coming Back To Me Now.