Setting the Stage for The Will to Power 295draw conclusions from an imaginary counterwork!" the unthinkable
enormity of life is revealed. It is equally true, however, that "the ulti-
mate truth of the flow of things does not tolerate incorporation; our vital
organs are equipped for error" (9,504).
This imagery of approaching the enormity of life sketches a dra-
matic course. In another fragment from the period in which he wrote
Zarathustra, Nietzsche added a suspenseful twist to his description:
"Suddenly the dreadful chamber of truth opens up. There is an uncon-
scious self-preservation, caution, concealment, shielding from the
weightiest knowledge.... Now I roll away the last stone: the most
dreadful truth stands before me... —conjuring up truthfrom the grave. We cre-
ated it, we awakened it: the highest expression of courage and feeling of
power.. .. We created the weightiest thoughts—now let us create the crea-
ture who can cope with it! To be capable of creation, we must grant our-
selves greater freedom than was ever granted us; in addition to that,
liberation from morality and relief in celebrations (Intimations of the
future! Commemorate the future, not the past! Write the myth of the
future! Live in hope!). Joyous moments! And then draw the curtain once
again and turn our thoughts to concrete specific goals!" (10,602).
This "truth from the grave" is a virtual horror story. The "dreadful"
aspect of it seems to be that everything man instinctively desires—
namely unity, stability, meaning, and goals—is lacking in the world. Not
everyone is capable of enduring this reality. Most people require blind-
ers. In Nietzsche's view, one must "write the myth of the future" and
seek "relief" in "celebrations."
But is this prospect of the Heraclitean flow really so dreadful? It cer-
tainly arouses feelings of the sublime, hence the poetic luster of the
imagery. The real horror and foundations of terror come up elsewhere,
namely in Nietzsche's sketch called "European Nihilism," dated June 10,
1887, which provided essential groundwork for his planned Will to
Power, "European Nihilism" depicts true horror in the face of nature,
pointing up the overwhelming injustice and ruthlessness inherent in it.
Nature produces the weak and the strong, the advantaged and disad-