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Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, and Tolstoy (Patreon)

Published:
2021-02-14 07:30:36
Imported:
2026-06
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." - Nietzsche 

"Now he experienced a feeling similar to what a man would feel who was calmly walking across a bridge over an abyss and suddenly saw that the bridge had been taken down and below him was the bottomless deep. This bottomless deep was life itself. The bridge, the artificial life that Alexei Alexandrovich had lived." - Tolstoy

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Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, and Tolstoy

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Halcyon Distilled

A few times while reading the book (I am currently on part 4) I thought of the concept of shadow self. On p. 363 during an argument between Alexei and Anna, Alexei says : “One can insult an honest man or an honest woman but to tell a thief that he is a thief, is merely la constatacion d’un fait.” Anna: “This cruelty is a new feature. I did not know it was in you.” I immediately thought of how a part of our shadow self might rear its head in times of conflict with another. I could totally be off here, but that was my first reaction as it came across the page. Later, Alexei battles with a “crude force” which I am understanding as the shadow of Russian society at the time, whereby its rules and expectations prevent Alexei from enjoying his newfound love, forgiveness, freedom and peace. Another hint at shadow self is when Alexei thinks "Rummaging in our souls we often find something that ought to have lain there unnoticed" There's a quote form the Gospel of St. Thomas that I would share with Alexei :“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.” I am so enjoying this. I am learning so much from you!!! Thank you!

hardcoreliterature

That's amazing it occurred to you too! I think your intuitions about the shadow self are very accurate. And I love that you've brought in the Gospel of St. Thomas for Alexei. I might also bring in Matthew 10:26: "there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known." Or, in the words of Marmeladov from Crime and Punishment, 'everything hidden will be made manifest.' And I'm glad you're getting some value out of this - thank you for contributing! :)