thing he resolved was not to make that one good year a bad year by grieving that it was
not more than a year.
One night, unable to sleep and craving some comfort, he restlessly browsed in his
library. He could find nothing written in his own field that seemed even remotely relevant
to his life situation, nothing pertaining to how should one live, or find meaning in one`s
remaining days. But then his eye fell upon a dog–eared copy of Nietzsche`sThus Spake
Zarathustra. Julius knew this book well: decades ago he had thoroughly studied it while
writing an article on the significant but unacknowledged influence of Nietzsche on
Freud.Zarathustra was a brave book which more than any other, Julius thought, teaches
how to revere and celebrate life. Yes, this might be the ticket. Too anxious to read
systematically, he flipped the pages randomly and sampled some of the lines he had
highlighted.
«To change вЂit was` into вЂthus I willed it`—that alone shall I call redemption.»
Julius understood Nietzsche`s words to mean that he had to choose his life—he had
to live it rather than be lived by it. In other words he should love his destiny. And above
all there was Zarathustra`s oft–repeated question whether we would be willing to repeat
the precise life we have lived again and again throughout eternity. A curious thought
experiment—yet, the more he thought about it, the more guidance it provided:
Nietzsche`s message to us was to live life in such a way that we would be willing to
repeat the same life eternally.
He continued flipping the pages and stopped at two passages highlighted heavily in
neon pink: «Consummate your life.» «Die at the right time.»
These hit home. Live your life to the fullest; and then, and only then, die. Don`t
leave any unlived life behind. Julius often likened Nietzsche`s words to a Rorschach