154 Nietzsche
eye—therein lies the optimism inherent in cognition. The man of
knowledge proudly declares: I will endure my knowledge even if it kills
me. Nietzsche prescribed himself this optimism as a remedy for a con-
sciousness that craved tragedy and was so eager to indulge in postsiren-
ian dejection when the music stopped. "Optimism for the sake of
restitution in order to regain the right to be a pessimist at some point—
do you understand that?" (2,375; HH Π Preface § 5).