Amor fati

Amor fati

Amor fati is a Latin phrase that loosely translates to "love of fate" or "love of one's fate". It is used to describe an attitude in which one sees everything that happens in one's life, including suffering and loss, as good. That is, one feels that everything that happens is destiny's way of reaching its ultimate purpose, and so should be considered good. Moreover, it is characterized by an acceptance of the events that occur in one's life. It is almost identical to the Jewish concept of Gam Zu Letova (this too is for the best).

The phrase is used repeatedly in Nietzsche's writings and is representative of the general outlook on life he articulates in section 276 of "The Gay Science", which reads,

I want to learn more and more to see as beautiful what is necessary in things; then I shall be one of those who make things beautiful. "Amor fati": let that be my love henceforth! I do not want to wage war against what is ugly. I do not want to accuse; I do not even want to accuse those who accuse. "Looking away" shall be my only negation. And all in all and on the whole: some day I wish to be only a Yes-sayer.

Quote from "Why I Am So Clever" in "Ecce Homo", section 10 ["Basic Writings of Nietzsche". trans. and ed. by Walter Kaufmann. 1967. p. 714.] :

My formula for greatness in a human being is "amor fati": that one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it—all idealism is mendaciousness in the face of what is necessary—but "love" it.

Outside of Nietzsche's works, the phrase can be found in works as far removed from German philosophy as Frank Herbert's "God Emperor of Dune".

It is also mentioned in Hermann Hesse's novel "The Glass Bead Game". There, it is used to describe part of Joseph Knecht's attitude towards life.

This phrase was also seen on the opening credits of the "The X-Files" Season 7 Episode 2 entitled "The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati" instead of the usual phrase "The Truth Is Out There".

ee also

*Thus Spoke Zarathustra
*Stoicism
*Fatalism

References


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  • Amor fati — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Amor fati es una frase latina que se traduce amor del destino o el amor al destino . Se utiliza para describir una actitud en la que uno ve todo lo que sucede en la vida, incluido el sufrimiento y la pérdida, como… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Amor Fati — est une locution latine rebattue par les plus grands penseurs du monde dont Nietzsche. Amor fati signifie « l amour du destin » en tant que soumission au destin et irrépressible optimisme pour son fatum. L antonyme sera, en un sens, la… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • AMOR FATI —         (лат.) любовь к року. Выражение стоиков. У Ницше радостное приятие судьбы сверхчеловеком. Философский энциклопедический словарь. М.: Советская энциклопедия. Гл. редакция: Л. Ф. Ильичёв, П. Н. Федосеев, С. М. Ковалёв, В. Г. Панов. 1983 …   Философская энциклопедия

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  • Amor fati — Friedrich Nietzsche, 1882 (Photographie von Gustav Adolf Schultze) Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (* 15. Oktober 1844 in Röcken bei Lützen; † 25. August 1900 in Weimar) war ein deutscher Philosoph …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • Amor Fati — Amor Fa|ti der; <lat. ; »Liebe zum Schicksal«> Liebe zum Notwendigen u. Unausweichlichen (bei Nietzsche Zeichen menschlicher Größe) …   Das große Fremdwörterbuch

  • amor fati — (Lat., love of fate) The stoical or fatalistic acceptance of the determined or predetermined course of events …   Philosophy dictionary

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