278 Nietzsche
quite frequently. Zarathustra tries to designate concrete aspects of
restored health and spontaneity as principles to live by. One should heed
the "great reason" (4,39; ZFirst Part, "On the Despisers of the Body")
of one's body and eat propedy, reduce contact with people to a whole-
some level, and limit communication of feelings, experiences, and
thoughts so as to avoid becoming entangled in misunderstandings.
Misunderstandings arise when our own thoughts are distorted and
deformed by idle chatter with others and come back in some unrecog-
nizable form to distract us from ourselves. Hence one should not yield
to the market of opinions, or "bury one's head in the sand of heavenly
things" (4,37; Ζ First Part, "On the Afterwoddly"), which would also
signify alienation from the core of life. That core is found in love,
Zarathustra explains in paradoxical terms: "We love life not because we
are used to life but because we are used to loving" (4,49; Ζ First Part,
"On Reading and Writing"). It is not life that justifies love; on the con-
trary, love is the creative force that keeps life alive. Once we have famil-
iarized ourselves with love, we take the rest of life into the bargain. Only
the will to love can enable man to discover the potentially lovable sides
of life; otherwise man is likely to focus on its repulsive, ugly, and tortur-
ous aspects. We ought to use our will to love to enchant the world
around us as well as ourselves. We need to fall in love with love.
Inversion and self-referentiality are characteristic for both Nietzsche
and Zarathustra. Our attention is shifted from the object of an intention
to the intentional act. The "will to ..." is brought into focus. Knowledge
works in this same way. It is not knowing the "object" that justifies
delight in knowledge, but rather the will to knowledge that warrants our
delight The will to knowledge can be a pleasure that bears and endures
even the unbearable nature of what is known. Nietzsche had already
stated in Dcrybreak that we always seem to forget "that knowledge of
even the ugliest reality is beautiful" (3,320; D § 550). Why? Because
knowledge itself is something beautiful. Consequendy, the "happiness
of the man of knowledge" may serve to augment the "beauty of the
world" (3,320). Still, we should not forget where this beauty originates.