Friedrich Nietzsche seems to have had a knack for outrageousness. Some time ago in random browsing I ran across another example, from Also Sprach Zarathustra. In translation:

A real man wants two things: danger and play. Therefore he wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything.

Gratuitous misogyny, trapped-in-his time, or über-in-your-face-ism? I don't know, but the echo of the words Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things (title of a 1987 book by linguist George Lakoff; cf. MessyAndNeatCategories, 30 Jun 1999) is striking and perhaps not altogether coincidental. I guess Nietzsche has to join the too-long list of classic authors that I need to read some day ...

(above translation by Walter Kaufmann; in the original German, "Zweierlei will der ächte Mann: Gefahr und Spiel. Desshalb will er das Weib, als das gefährlichste Spielzeug."; for other random Nietzscheisms seen in passing, cf. StrongCoffee (7 Jun 2003), SearchForMeaning (27 Aug 2005), YearsOfWandering (2 Feb 2006), ...)

TopicPhilosophy - TopicHumor - TopicLiterature - 2007-01-22

(correlates: NewYearResolution, MessyAndNeatCategories, The Meaning of Life, ...)