Emerson and Nietzsche

Author(s): Hermann Hummel

Source: The New England Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Mar., 1946), pp. 63-84
Published by: The New England Quarterly, Inc.
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EMERSON

AND NIETZSCHE*
HUMMEL

HERMANN

"Be an opener of doors to those who come afteryou."

-EMERSON

I.

HE relationbetweenNietzscheand Emersonhas been the

comment,but neverofexhaussubjectofmuchsuggestive
tiveresearch.Onlysince1930 hasthematerialforsuchresearch
been even partiallyaccessibleto scholars.The writer,long
familiarwith Nietzsche,owes his closer acquaintance with
Emersonto six yearsspentrecentlyin involuntaryleisurein
America.Manyof Emerson'spassagesseemedto him to be so
familiarat firstsightthatthe questionof his influenceupon
of
Nietzschebecamea cryingone. When a tentativestatement
thisrelationshipwas made to an Americanfriend,his grudging responsebroughtto mindJohnBurroughs'sremarkthat
"manyofus feeltowardEmersonas a wifefeelstowardherhusband; we like to findfaultwithhim ourselves,but it hurtsus
to haveothersdo thesame."
In theworksthatNietzscheeditedhimself-orintendedfor
publicationwhenhe wasstillin health-there are onlytwoexto Emerson.In additionto these,Nietzsche's
plicitreferences
as a quosister,in herbiographyofherbrother,'has identified
tationfromEmerson,"a littletransformed,"
themottoat the
beginningof the firstedition of Froehliche Wissenschaft
(1882):

and sacred,all
"To the poet and sage all thingsare friendly
all daysholy,all mendivine."2
eventsprofitable,
* This
essay has been abridged to meet the space limitationsimposed upon
the editors of the QUARTERLY. The author and the editors regretthat abridgement almost inevitably entails an exaggeration which would not occur in a
more detailed treatmentof the subject.
1 Elisabeth Foerster-Nietzsche,
Das Leben FriedrichNietzsches(Leipzig, 18951904),I, 3972 "Dem Dichter und Weisen sind alle
Dinge befreundetund geweiht,alle
Erlebnisse nuetzlich,alle Tage heilig, alle Menschen goettlich."Emerson's own
wordsin "History"were,"To the poet, to the philosopher,to the saint ....

63

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64

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

In Paragraph 92 of the Froehliche WissenschaJt,Nietzsche

wrote:
"War is thefatherof all good things,also of good prose! In this
centurytherehave been fourveryremarkablemen,truepoets,who
have attainedthemasteryof prose... thusI regardGiacomo Leopardi, ProsperMerimbe,Ralph Waldo Emerson,and Walter Savage Landor alone as deservingto be called mastersof prose."3
The Goetzendaemmerung, Streifzuegeeines Unzeitgemaessen, contains in Paragraph 12 an evaluation of Carlyle, and in
Paragraph 13:
"Emerson.-Much moreenlightened,morediscursive,morevarious, more skillfulthan Carlyle,above all happier .... Such a one
as nourisheshimselfinstinctively
withambrosiaand leaves behind
the grossin things;in comparisonwith Carlyle,a man of taste.Carlyle, who liked him greatly,neverthelesssaid of him: 'He
doesn'tgive us enough to put our teethinto.' Which may be said
with justice, but not in Emerson's disfavor.-Emersonhas that
benevolentand intelligentserenitywhichdiscouragesall severity.
He has no idea how old he is or how younghe may become. He
could say of himselfin the wordsof Lope de Vega: 'I am myown
successor'.His mindhas alwaysgroundsfortranquillityand thankof
fulness,and sometimeshe catchesthe glad transcendentalism
the goodman who returningtamquam re bene gesta from an
amorous rendez-voussaid: 'Ut desint vires, tamen est laudanda
voluptas'."
3 "Der Krieg ist der Vater aller
guten Dinge, der Krieg ist auch der Vater der
guten Prosal ... Vier sehr seltsameund wahrhaftdichterischeMenschen waren
es in diesem Jahrhundert,welche an die Meisterschaftder Prosa gereichthaben
... so sehe ich nur Giacomo Leopardi, ProsperM6rim&e,Ralph Waldo Emerson
und Walter Savage Landor wuerdig an, Meister der Prosa zu heissen."
4 "Emerson.-Viel aufgeklaerter,schweifender,vielfacher, raffinierterals
Ein solcher,der sich instinktivmit AmCarlyle, vor Allem gluecklicher....
brosia naehrt,der das Unverdaulichein den Dingen zuruecklaesst;gegen Carlyle
gehalten,ein Mann des Geschmacks.-Carlyle,der ihn sehr liebte,sagte trotzdem
von ihm: 'Er giebt uns nicht genug zu beissen'. Was mit Recht gesagt sein mag,
aber nichtzu UngunstenEmersons.-Emerson hat jene guetige und geistreiche
Heiterkeit,welche allen Ernst entmutigt,er weiss es schlechterdingsnicht,wie
alt er schon jetzt ist und wie jung er noch sein wird. Er koennte von sich mit
einem Wort Lope de Vegas sagen: 'Yo me sucedo a mio mismo'.Sein Geist findet

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EMERSON AND NIETZSCHE

65

The more one studies him, the more curious seem Nietzsche's infrequent referencesto Emerson. The rather critical
tone of Nietzsche's two published comments on Emerson appears in marked contrast to his total effecton Nietzsche. Although the name of Emerson is not cited in the Nietzsche index
prepared by Dr. Oehler for the Nietzsche Archive in 1926,
thereare furtherreferencesto him in Nietzsche's posthumously published works, in Mrs. Foerster-Nietzsche'sbiography,5
and in the general collection of Nietzsche's letters published
in 1900. Of the last, two comments occur in letters to Nietzsche's lifelongfriendvon Gersdorff:
"our gloriousfriendEmerson;"6and
"The new Emersonhas grownold...
amoured of life."7

at last he is too much en-

In addition there are three passages in the octavo Nachlass

of 1917-1919:
"Through Jean Paul, Carlyle has been corruptedand has become England's worstwriter;throughCarlyle,in turn,Emerson,
the mostgiftedof the Americans,has been seduced to a tasteless
extravagancewhich tossesthoughtsand images in handfulsout
of thewindow."8
"Emerson.I have neverfeltso muchat home in a book, so much
in myown house as,-I oughtnot to praiseit; it is too close to me."9
immer Gruende zufriedenund dankbar zu sein, und bisweilen streifter die
heitereTranscendenzjenes Biedermannes,der von einem verliebtenStelldichein
tamquam re bene gesta zurueckkam: 'Ut desint vires,tamen est laudanda voluptas'."
5 Das Leben FriedrichNietzsches,I, 129; 176.
nI,
6 Nietzsche,
BrieJwechsel,
7 BrieJwechsel,
No.
1o2,
September24, 1876.This remarkwas occasioned by
II,
Julian Schmidt'stranslation,New Essays, 1876.
8 Nietzsche,Nachlass, xI, 111, 342. "Durch Jean Paul ist Carlyle zu Grunde
gerichtetund zum schlechtestenSchriftsteller
Englands geworden; und durch
Carlyle wieder hat sich Emerson,der reichsteAmerikaner,zu seiner geschmacklosen Verschwendungverfuehrenlassen, welche Gedanken und Bilder haendevoll zum Fensterhinaus wirft."
9 Nietzsche, Unveroefentlichtesaus der Zeit der Froehlichen
WissenschaJt,
1881-1882,375. "Emerson. Ich habe mich nie in einem Buch sq zuhause und in
meinem Hause gefuehlt,als-ich darfes nichtloben, es stehtmir zu nahe."

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66

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

"The authoras yettherichestin ideas of thiscenturyhas been an

American(unfortunately
clouded by German philosophy).Milky
10
glass."
As far as the writer knows, three letters from Nietzsche to
Franz Overbeck"1have never received the attention they deserve. The first,writtenin December 1833, runs:
"Tell yourdear wifethatI feel in Emersona brothersoul (but
themind is badlyformed.)"
This is followed in April 1884 with:
"How goes it withEmersonand yourwife?"
In December 1884, the time of the composition of Zarathustra,
Nietzsche wrote:
"I am having translatedinto Germana long essayof Emerson's
which throwssome lighton his own development;if you like, it
is at yourand yourdear wife'sdisposal. I don't know how much I
would give to effectretroactively
the strictdisciplining,the real
education
and
of
so
scholarly
great
splendid a nature, with its
and
intellectual
wealth.
As
it
is,we have losta philosopher
spiritual
in Emerson."
Here the gown of Friedrich Nietzsche, ProfessorOrdinarius of
Classical Philology, is in evidence.
II.
Both Richard M. Meyer in Nietzsche12(Munich, 1913) and
aus der Zeit der Froehliche WissenschaJt,367. "Der
to Unveroeffentlichtes
gedankenreichsteAutor dieses Jahrhundertsist bisher ein Amerikanergewesen
(leider durch deutsche Philosophie verdunkelt).Milchglas." Emerson used the
same metaphor in, "O Carlyle, the merit of glass is not to be seen, but to be
seen through,but everycrystaland lamina of the Carlyle glass is visible." John
Burroughs,Emerson and his Journals (Boston, 1929),81.
11 Oehler und Bernoulli, FriedrichNietzsche'sBrieJwechselmit Franz Overbeck (Leipzig and Berlin, 1916).
12Meyer,who died in 1914,was the author of a biographyof Goethe and of
historiesof world and of German literature. His partisanship for Elisabeth
Foerster-Nietzsche
can only be regardedas a foible.

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EMERSON AND NIETZSCHE

67

Charles Andler in his betterknown Nietzsche, sa vie et sa pense"13 (Paris, 1920), referto Emerson, but only as one among

ofthought.Neither
ofNietzschein thehistory
manyprecursors
as a particuinfluence
scholars
Emerson's
of these
recognized
one.MeyerincludesEmersonamongseventeen
larlysignificant
ofNietzsche,rangingfromGoethethroughLip"forerunners"
piner,and his referencesto Emerson,thoughfrequent,are
whichundertookto
cursory.His book is remarkableas thefirst
fixNietzsche'splace in thegeneralhistoryof thought.Andler
names fourteen"pr6curseurs"of Nietzsche,beginningwith
Goetheand endingwithEmerson.In thethirty-one
pagesthat
he devotesto Emerson,thelatteris describedas "one of those
beloved authorswhose thoughtNietzscheabsorbedwithout
it fromhis own." His finaljudgmentis
alwaysdistinguishing
did notanticipateall the
that"Emerson,theconvincedmystic,
theoriesof Nietzsche,but he obliged Nietzscheto establish
them."
While recognizingEmerson'scatalyticeffecton Nietzsche,
Andlerwaspreventedfrommeasuringit accuratelybyhisown
and his failureto apevaluationofEmerson,l4
ratherarbitrary
character
of
the
the
latter'swork.Unpreciate expressionistic
he writesthat"NietzschefoundEmersonfull of
fortunately
and this super-abundanceof themes
Germanreminiscences,
understood
already
gavehiman illusionofinventivepowerin
theartistwhoborrowedthem."Admirableas Andler'sscholarship is in general,his suppositionthat Nietzschefound"German reminiscences"in Emersonis no bettersupportedthan
cloudNietzsche'sowncriticismofEmersonas "unfortunately
wealth
of
ed byGermanphilosophy."Not Emerson's
ideas,nor
his fundamentalprinciples,nor his methodof reasoningwas
derivedfromGermansources.It has yetto be demonstrated
thathe evermade a systematic
studyof Germanphilosophy.
13 The printingwas delayed from1914 to 192o by the war, and it is doubtful
whetherAndler knew Meyer'sbook.
14 He seems to have relied principallyon Mlle. M. Dugard's Emerson,sa vie
et son oeuvre,a mosaic of some fivehundred quotations fromEmerson.

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68

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

Moreover,he beganto learntheGermanlanguage,underCarlyle'sinfluence,

onlyverylate.
had
Andler
privateaccessto the NietzscheArchiveand was
certainlyaware of Nietzsche'suse of Germantranslationsof
Emerson.He did comparemanyof Nietzsche'smeditations
withaphorismsof Emerson,whomhe calls "one of theprototypesof Zarathustra."He rightlyemphasizedNietzsche'sand
Emerson'scommonoppositionto traditionalismin religion,
and art,but he exaggeratedto theextentof
morals,literature,
15
"One
must
call Emersonan immoralist."
writing,
The principal hindranceto the work of Andler, and of
others,has been themonopolyexercisedby the NietzscheArin 1894 at
chive,establishedby ElisabethFoerster-Nietzsche
Weimaraftershewasappointedsoleguardianofherbrother.16
It is her greatmeritto have preservedalmosteverypiece of
Nietzsche'shandwritingand the books he collected at SilsMaria, Turin, Nice, and Genoa. The historyof literaturecan
hardlyboast anotherequally completecollectionof the life
workofa prominentwriter.Mrs.Foerster-Nietzsche's
authorthe
over
without
was
exercised
restraint.
Archive,
however,
ity
She neverhesitatedto suppresswhatconflictedwithher own
distortedportraitof her brother,and she may even have destroyedpartsofEcce homoand of Nietzsche'scorrespondence
withvon Gersdoff.
Nietzsche'sown feelingtowardhis mother
and sisteris expressedin a letterofMarch,1883:
"The separation
frommypeoplebeginsto seema realbenefit;
in thisregard(since
Oh, ifyouknewwhatI havehad toovercome
15Andler wrote,"We do not know whetherit is necessary,as some believe,
to rely on the Nietzschean doctrine for a revival of the religious sense in the
world. Those who think so would do better to pursue their argumentsto the
source,in Emerson."
16 The systematicinterference the Archivestaffin scientificstudies is deby
scribed in Erich Podach's Gestaltenum Nietzsche (Weimer, 1932),and in other
publications by the same author. Not even the establishmentof a Wissenschaftlicher Ausschussin 1924 made the Archiveaccessible to the public. There has
been a gradual improvementsince Mrs. Foerster-Nietzsche's
death. In 1938 the
Archivecommissionedan Historisch-KritischeGesamtausgabe,fourvolumes of
which are now available.

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EMERSON AND NIETZSCHE

69

and it irritates
metohearmy
mybirth)!I do notlikemymother,
sister's
voice."
Mrs. Foerster-Nietzsche
at firstpresentedher brotheras
of
a
national
liberal,made savage fromexcessive
something
dosesof chloral-hydrate;
and throughher,extremeadvocates
of racialismand imperialismfinallysucceeded in picturing
for
Nietzscheas a superhumanrowdy.It is not easy,therefore,
a foreignerto look at Nietzscheexcept as an apostle of National Socialism.Althoughhe is consideredone of the most
widelyread of modernwriters,most of his readersbehave
just as he feared:
"The worstreadersare like sackingsoldiers:theytakeeverytherest,andgivinga bad
thingtheycanuse,spoilingandupsetting
nametothewhole."
Nor has Emersonescaped the caricaturingof his trueattitudes.In 1937Dr. JuliusSimonpublishedRalph WaldoEmerson in Deutschland,z85z-z93717(Berlin),showingthatEmerson was given a slow reception in Germany from 1851 to 1893,

and thathis popularitythenincreased,culminatingin 1907,

and thathisworkshavereceivedslightbut steadyinterestsince
then.Simon observessome commoncharacteristics
in Emerson and Nietzsche,suchas theirantagonismto historicism
and
theircriticismof historicalChristianity,
but he emphasizesa
yawningcontrast."Emerson'soptimism"is,ofcourse,opposed
to "Nietzsche'spessimism";"idealism," to "paganism"; the
"Christianhumanismof Emerson,"to the "Dionysiac antiof Nietzsche."He reachestheheightof nonsense
Christianity
by apotheosizingEmersonat Nietzsche'sexpense,and investing theformerwiththenimbusof theNordicrace: "Emerson
is representativeof the Germanic nature . . . . His political

views,to be sure,mustbe partiallysubordinatedforthe moment."Simon'sis one ofmanyattemptsto distilla systemfrom

17The veryextensivebibliography
is obviouslybased on George Willis
Cooke'sbibliography,
publishedin Boston,19o8.

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70

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

thewritingsof Nietzscheand ofEmerson.As we shallsee,it is

preciselythe lack of explicitsystemthat characterizesthem
amongphilosophers.
were satisfiedwith
Most of Emerson'sGermantranslators
havingreadtheparticularworkstheyintendedto translateand
and life.Underthese
in hispersonality
tookno generalinterest
it is not surprisingthatmanyGermanreaders
circumstances,
failedto recognizeEmerson'sradicalism,whichcannotbe understoodwithoutsome knowledgeof the religiousand social
attitudesof Bostonand Cambridgeabout 1835.Emersonwas
as an essayist.It washisliterary
admiredin Germanyprimarily
interest
of HermannGrimmand
famethatfirstattractedthe
with
Gisela von Arnimand led to theirlong correspondence
him.18

bookthanSiand thoughtful
A muchmoredistinguished
Die Grundlamon'sappearedin 1938,EduardBaumgarten's
a
with
volume
second
amerikanischen
des
Gemeinwesens,
gen
volumedealswithBenThe first
entitled
DerPragmatismus.'9
WilliamJames,
jaminFranklin;thesecondtreatsEmerson,
forthe
and JohnDeweyas his followers,
jointlyresponsible
relationwithNietzEmerson's
modernAmericanmentality.
scheis developedin thethirdchapterofthissecondvolume
waspermitted
tostudy
andina detailedappendix.Baumgarten
on
condition
that
notesin theArchive,
Nietzsche's
apparently
and
it
is
from
his
frompublishing
he refrain
anyparticulars,
useofEmerson's
bookthatmostoftheevidenceofNietzsche's
mustbe drawn.
writings
hasfound
Mr.Baumgarten
leftbyNietzsche,
In thelibrary
18 Hermann Grimm,Berlin historianof literature,was the son of the famous
Wilhelm Grimm. Gisela von Arnim later became his wife.Their lettersto and
fromEmerson from 1856 through 1871 were published by Frederick William
Hollis in 1903.Emerson'slast letterbut one, dated January5, 1871,concluded:
"I give you joy, the new year,on these great days of Prussia. You will have
seen that our people have taken yourpart fromthe first,and have a rightto admire the immenseexhibitionof Prussian power. Of course,we are impatientfor
peace, were it only to secure Prussia at thisheightof well being."
19Baumgarten was forcedto leave Goettingenfor Koenigsbergin 1938, and
nothingis known of his whereaboutssince.

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EMERSON AND NIETZSCHE

71

three German translationsof Emerson,and fromanother

sourcewe knowthathe possesseda fourth.20Baumgartenwrites
that the marginal notes in "these crumpled,paper-bound
books" proceed "withoutany interruptionfromEmerson's
textintoNietzsche'sownmeditations."One book in particular
is "thoroughly
soiledwithmuchreading,crowdedwithundersix specific
liningsand marginalnotes."Baumgartenidentifies
in
his
Nietzsche's
works
in
which
marginal
passages
published
in "a
on Emerson'swritings
havebeen incorporated
reflections
to
more or less refinedform."21The lettersof von Gersdorff
Nietzschepublishedfrom1934 to 1937,and onlyrecently
available, also contain importantreferencesto Emerson over a
periodofnearlytwentyyears-December,1864,August,1874,
September,1875, April, 1876, and September,1882. They
proveNietzscheto have been acquaintedwithmuch moreof
Emersonthanis indicatedby the fourvolumesin his own library.
Fromthefourvolumesof theHistorisch-Kritische
Gesamtso
far
the
and
Nietzsche
Archive
availausgabe
publishedby
able here,only the notationsNietzschemade fromEmerson
duringthe 186o'scan be determined.The earliestquotations
date from1862,Nietzsche'slast yearsat the SchulpfortaCol20 R. W. Emerson's
Essays,uebersetztvon G. Fabricius (Hannover, 1858); Die
Fuehrung des Lebens, Gedanhen and Studien, uebersetztvon R. S. Muehlberg
[pseud. for E. Sartorius] (Leipzig, 1862); Emerson, Neue Essays, deutsch herausgegeben von Julian Schmidt,1876; and Essay ueber Goethe und Shakespeare,
uebertragenvon H. Grimm,185721 Sphinx in Reden, Gleichnisse,Bilder, 1882-1888,No. 26,
vIII, 384; Ueber
Irrtum,xII, 110; Ueber Trunkenheit,Froehliche Wissenschajt,Aphorism 154;
Ueber Objektivitaet,xII, 76 and following;Ueber den Ozean der Seele, xii, 182;
Vom Kleinsten und Naechsten, xii, 84. Only one of these referencescan be
identifiedfromthe editionsof Nietzscheavailable here, that to Ueber Trunkenheit:
"VerschiedeneGefaehrlichkeitdes Lebens.-Ihr wisstgar nicht,was ihr erlebt,
ihr lauft, wie betrunken durch's Leben und fallt ab und zu eine Treppe
hinab. Aber, Dank eurer Trunkenheit, brecht ihr doch nicht dabei die
Glieder: Eure Muskeln sind zu matt und euer Kopf zu dunkel, als dass ihr die
Steine dieser Treppe zu hart faendet,wie wir Andern! Fuer uns ist das Leben
eine groessereGefahr; wir sind von Glas. Wehe, wenn wir uns stossenl Und
Alles ist verloren,wenn wir fallen."

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72

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

lege. Amounting to more than a hundred printed lines,theyare

all drawn verbatim fromMuehlberg's translationof the "Conduct of Life." A fewof them may be quoted as typical.
"The human heart concernsus more than the poring into a
microscope."
"No object reallyinterestsus but man, and in man only his superiority."
"Beauty is the formunder which the intellectprefersto study
theworld."
"All high beautyhas a moral factorin it."
"It is a rule of the widestapplication,truein a plant, truein a
loafofbread,thatin theconstruction
ofanyfabricor organismany
of
of
real increase fitness
is an increase beauty."
In a later manuscriptwe findthe passage:
"Ask gifteddoctors,saysEmerson,how much temperamentdecides,and what,indeed, it does not decide."
Emerson's textis actually:
"Ask Spurzheim,ask the doctors,ask Quetelet,if temperaments
decide nothing?-oriftherebe anythingtheydo not decide."22
Curiously, Andler, who did not know Nietzsche's notation or
even the translation he used, wrote of Nietzsche's range of
ideas:
cause is theman,theindividual.By what
"The finaldetermining
is he directed?Is it chance thatleads him?It is ratherhis temperament.Emersonhas said, and doctorshave repeated,thatthe events
whichbefallus are coloredby our temperaments."
Many of the manuscriptsare only loose octavo sheets.We read
22
Johann Christoph Spurzheim (1776-1832) was a pupil of the famous
phrenologistGall. Afterlecturingall over the world, he died in Boston in November,1832. Lambert Adol Jacques Quetelet (1796-1874)was an astronomer,
meteorologist,and statistician,best known for his work Sur l'homme et le ddveloppement de ses Jacultds,ou essai de physique sociale.

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EMERSON AND NIETZSCHE

73

one shortnotein 1863: "Read most:Emerson.. ." Duringthe

time of Nietzsche'smilitaryservice(1867 -1868) thereis one
quotationof EmersontakenfromFabricius'translation:"He
who writesforhimselfwritesforan undyingpublic." Nietzare said to be ofa later
sche'smarginalnotesin thistranslation
date,perhapsthatofEcce homo(1888).
FromNietzsche'spublishedlettersitis knownthathe always
carrieda volumeofEmersonwhenhe travelled,and lostone at
of Emerson
Bayreuthin 1874,and thathe boughttranslations
when
custodians
of
the
Nietzsche
The
theyappeared.
promptly
stated
to
without
Archive,
anyexplanation,
Baumgaroffering
tenthatNietzsche"readmoreofEmersonthanthethreetranslationsin hislibrary,"and thathe "drewexcerptsfromEmerson at all periodsofhis life."FromBaumgarten,too,we know
thatNietzsche'smarginalnote,"Ecce homo,"appearsseveral
of Emerson.Thus we have a chronotimesin the translations
from
first
order
Nietzsche's
logical
acquaintancewithEmerson
in
in 1862 throughthe fewsalvagedlettersto von Gersdorff
in
to
1888.
For
and
letters
to
Overbeck
the
1882
-1883,
1876
more than a quarterof a centuryEmersonwas the object of
Nietzsche'scontinuinginterest.

IV.
It is thewriter'scontentionthatEmersonwas morethan"a
brothersoul" to Nietzsche,and thathe exerciseda continuous
influencestrongerthanthatof anyotherwriteron Nietzsche.
Such an influenceis hardlycompatiblewiththe unique, exand
alted genius manufacturedby Mrs. Foerster-Nietzsche
Peter Gast. Until furtherevidenceof Nietzsche'sactual defromtheArchive,all thatis possible
velopmentis disinterred
is to examinethosepassagesin Emersonwhichare mostlikely
to have impressedNietzsche.Such a selectionis inevitably
resemaphoristic.This paper will not point out a systematic
blance betweenEmersonand Nietzsche,forthesimplereason

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74

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

that theyhave no philosophical systems.It can only hint at the

relation of theirideological complexes.
In attemptinga correlation, it is natural to begin with the
essays which Nietzsche undoubtedly knew and used,--"History,""Compensation," "Self-Reliance," "Power":
"... all thefactsofhistorypreixistin themind as laws."
"Egypt, Greece, Rome, Gaul, Britain, America lie folded alreadyin thefirstmen."
"Everyrevolutionwas firsta thoughtin one man's mind, and
when thesame thoughtoccursto anotherman, it is the keyof that
era."
"We honor the rich because theyhave externallythe freedom,
powerand gracewhichwe feelto be properto man,properto us."
said Napoleon, 'but a fableagreedupon?' "
" 'What is history,'
in
other
words,thereis properlyno history,onlybiography.
"...
man
must
knowthewhole lessonforitself,mustgo over the
Every
whole ground."
"The difference
betweenmen is in theirprincipleof association.
Some men classifyobjectsby color and size and otheraccidentsof
appearance; othersby intrinsiclikeness,or by thereactionof cause
and effect."
"The Greeksare not reflective,
but perfectin theirsensesand in
theirhealth,withthe finestphysicalorganizationin theworld."
"Prometheusis theJesusof theold mythology."
".... thatthe mind is One and thatnatureis its correlative."
"An inevitabledualismbisectsnatureso thateach thingis a half."
"Whilsttheworldis thusdual, so is everyone of itsparts."
"Res nolunt diu male administrari."(Things refuseto be mismanagedlong.)
"O K~OL ALO?
L EV
(The dice ofGod are alwaysloaded.)
C7TLrTOVL.
"Man's lifeis a progress,and not a station."

theseare suggestions
whichcannothave
Unquestionably
beenloston Nietzsche.
Our immediate
is
purpose,however,
notto developparallelsbutratherto reistablish
thatatmos-

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EMERSON AND NIETZSCHE

75

phere in which Nietzsche felthimself"in his own house." The

question of stylistictechnique will play an important part
later in our argument.
The following passage from "Self-Reliance" is reproduced
as a curiosity; it was not echoed by Nietzsche, but by the Nazi
pioneer, Houston StewartChamberlain:
"... let us enterintothestateofwar and wake Thor and Woden,
courageand constancy,in our Saxon breasts."
Other passages in Emerson, however, may remind anyone of

Menschliches Allzumenschliches,Wille zur Macht, Ecce

Homo, or Zarathustra:

"We shun theruggedbattleof fate,wherestrengthis born."

"Is it so bad, then,to be misunderstood?
Pythagoraswas misunand
and
and
derstood,
Socrates, Jesus,
Luther,and Copernicus,and
Galileo, and Newton,and everypure and wisespiritthateverwore
flesh.To be great,is to be misunderstood."
".... but thegreatman is he who in themidstof the crowdkeeps
withperfectsweetnessthe independenceof solitude."
"Let a stoicopen theresourcesofmen and tell themtheyare not
leaningwillows,but can and mustdetachthemselves;thatwiththe
exerciseof self-trust,
new powersshall appear; that a man is the
word made flesh,born to shed healing to the nations; that he
should be ashamedofour compassionand thatthemomenthe acts
fromhimself,tossingthe laws, the books, the idolatriesand customsout of thewindow,we pityhim no morebut thankand revere
him; and thatteachershall restorethe lifeof man to splendorand
make his name dear to all history."
"It [myown standard]denies the name of dutyto manyoffices
thatare called duties."
"As men's prayersare a disease of the will, so are theircreedsa
diseaseof theintellect."
There is "amor fati" in Emerson, too:
"You will soon love what is dictatedby yournature."

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76

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

In the following sentences of Emerson's, the author of Jenseits von Gut und Boese is distinctlyrecognizable:
"He who would gatherimmortalpalmsmustnot be hinderedby
thename ofgoodness."
"Good and bad are but namesveryreadilytransferrable
to that
or this: the onlyrightis what is accordingto myconstitution;the
onlywrong,whatis contraryto it!"
"The doctrineof hatredmustbe preached,as the counteraction
of the doctrineof love, when thatpules and whines.I shun father
and motherand wifeand brotherwhenmygeniuscalls me."
"Then again, do not tell me,as a good man did today,of myobligationto put all poor men in good situations.Are theymypoor?"'
Some other expressionsof Emerson's will play a part in our
later discussion:
"Suppose you should contradictyourself;what then?It seemsto
be a rule ofwisdomneverto relyon yourmemoryalone."
"Life is a searchforpower."
"The keyofall ages is-imbecility,imbecilityin thevastmajority
ofmenat all times."
"... thefirstwealthis health."
men are led in thesame manners."
"Everywhere
"There is alwaysroom fora man of force,and he makes room
formany."
"It is an esotericdoctrineofsocietythata littlewickednessis good
to makemuscle;as ifconsciencewerenotgood for.handsand legs."
The last correspondsto two statementsof Nietzsche's in particular:
"I pulled awaythecurtainfromthewickednessof man"; and
"He [Ritschl,Nietzsche'steacher]had thatpleasantwickedness23
which distinguishesus Thuringians,and with which even a German becomessympathetic:we preferhidden paths even to reach
the truth."
Verdorbenheit."
2a "angenehme

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EMERSON AND NIETZSCHE

77

Perhaps there is a spontaneous self-confessionin Nietzsche's

"us." A certain "pleasant wickedness" was not out of his line,
and a photo of him in the firstgreat octavo edition suggeststhe

ofMenschlichesAllzumenschliches:
"hypocrisy"

is frequently
nec"Benevolenthypocrisy:a benevolenthypocrisy
essaryin social intercourse,as if we did not read the motivesof
men'sactions."
In the lightof all the above, it seems impossible forNietzsche
to have read Emerson for more than twentyyears without a
strongparticular interest,or without appreciating the ideas of
Emerson's which are mostcongenial to his own.
V.
We must now testthe material available as "circumstantial
evidence" forthe proofof our thesis.When Nietzsche was born,
half of Emerson's life had already passed. When Emerson died
in 1882, Nietzsche was about to publish the Froehliche Wissenschaft,with a motto from Emerson. Although there is an entire generation between the two men, there is a suggestivecorrelation of their ancestryand milieu. Both are descended on
the paternal and maternal sides from several generations of
theologians. Emerson was eight when he lost his father;Nietzsche,five.Both were leftto the company and education of their
mothersand aunts. The orthodox puritanism of New England
at that time was veryclose to the provincial, orthodox outlook
in the home countryof Lutheranism. There was no essential
differencebetween Harvard in 1825 and the Schulpforta in
186o.
These two similarlyconstitutedbeings were both mutations
of their species. Distinguished by instinctive intellectual independence, theyhad a keen perception of their psychological
environments,and were sceptical of the innate goodness of humanity.24Both young men were raised in a clerical atmosphere
24 J. Burroughs,LiteraryValues (Boston,
1902), 193-194,cites fromEmerson's

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78

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

thatdeniedthemthespiritualself-reliance
appropriateto their
and
intellectualcharacter.
social
intercourse
Family
compelled
both to religiouspracticesand to the pursuitof theological
studies,buttheyfeltthecompulsion.Their oppositionto posthumous paternal authorityunfoldedgradually,entailinga
deceptiveoutwardprofessionof ideas alreadyabandoned inwhichsometimes
wardly.They experiencedthesameconflicts
troublethewholelivesofweakermen.
Emersontooka longertimethan Nietzscheto detachhimself.He was thirty-eight
when he resignedhis pastoraloffice.
was
Nietzsche,with a more uncompromising
temperament,
and
sixteenyearsyoungerwhen he leftthe BurschenschaJt
switchedfromthe studyof theologyto philology.Emerson's
mind when he earned the 4PiKkey in 1828 was filled with the

same discordsand resolutionsas Nietzsche's,fortyyearslater.

ofbothwritersto theirfamiliesare pitifuldocThe references
uments.It is understandablethat Emerson'searly writings
shouldhave impressedso muchtheSchulpforta
pupil and the
Bonn and Leipzigstudent.
Ata certainpointin thelivesofEmersonand Nietzschetheir
developmentdiverges.Temperamentcomes to the fore. In
Nietzsche'scase certainimponderablesnot indigenousto his
constitution
werealso operative,whileEmersonremaineduntoucheduntilhis latteryears,when,as is psychologically
normal,hisradicalismbecamemoreorlessrecurrent.
Nietzsche,in
a worldof ideas verysimilarto Emerson's,was propelledupwardsto theprecipices;Emersoncontinuedon hissmoothand
cultivatedway.Nietzschestruggled
on steepand crookedpaths
untilhe reachedtheglaciersofdead silenceand chill.It is this
whichmakesthe juxtapositionof the "sage of Concord" and
the "dithyrambic"authorof Ecce homo at .first
glance paradoxical.
Emersonset over his "Conduct of Life" the motto,"The
journal, "I like man, but not men." Nietzsche in Menschliches Allzumenschliches,248,quotes Frederickthe Great: "Ah, mon cher Sulzer,vous ne connaissez
pas cetterace maudite Alaquelle nous appartenons."

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EMERSON AND NIETZSCHE

79

firstwealthis health."He could hardlyhave founda way of

livingmoreconduciveto healththanthatof Concord.In the
courseof timeotherremarkablepersonsgatheredthereand
offeredtheirhumangenius,eccentricity,
or absurdityforobservation.AlthoughEmerson,Channing,Thoreau, and Alcottwerefrequentcompanions,Emersonspokeofhimselfas a
"porcupine"in contactwithmen,and "studiedtheartof solitude." He remainedin good physicalhealthuntilold age, his
mind fallinglittleby littleinto decay.Over the worksof his
middleand latterlifethereis a softveil.Nietzschenevertheless
was sensible of the congenial ideas gleamingthroughthat
"milkyglass."
Like Emerson,Nietzscheeulogizbshealth.It is frequently
thesubjectofhis reflections.
He regardsit as so indispensable
to the discoveryof truththat he insistson turningdisease
to theaccountofhealth.The diseasethatheld Nietzschein its
gripduringmostofhis lasttwentyyearsof sanity,he elevated
The consequences
dialecticallyto the rank of healthiness.25
of
different
from
of
natural
those
Emerson's
were, course,
health.Much has been writtenabout the foreignelementin
Nietzsche'seconomyofsickness.Jaspers,thescrupulousphysito theintruderas a "biologician,suspendsdecision,referring
cal factor,"whichwas effective
withoutproducingactual insanityuntilthedayofNietzsche'sbreakdownin January,1889.
His mentalsoundnessuntilthatdateisprovedbythebrilliance
of languageand thoughtand theperfection
of linguisticform
which distinguishthe workswrittenin the verylast days of
1888.
theeffects
ofthebiologicalfactorhad become
Nevertheless,
in
increasingly
perceptible thecourseofyears.The expression
of ideas was radicalized,withoutany changein theirfundamental content;certainrestrictions
were abolished; themes
hinted
were
slightly
previously
developedto theextreme.Crit25 Karl Jaspers,the
physicianand philosopher,has given this play of ideas a
classical formulation:"Disease supported by intrinsichealth and subordinated
to it is itselfa sign of health."

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80

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

icismofthereligious,alreadyapparentin theearliestwritings,
of politics,of science,of social life,became more and more
causticand finallydestructive
to thepointofnihilism.In spite
of Nietzsche'swill to struggleand to rebuild,he was impotent
to feelfirmground.In bothEmersonand Nietzsche,an inner
fireburnedout beforethebodydied. In Emersonit was a calm
and slow,but still a consuming,fire.In Nietzschethe flame
flaredintoquickdestruction.26
From an initial congenialitywhichhe clearlyrecognized,
and inNietzschepushedfarbeyondEmerson'stemperamental
tentionalmoderation.His wilder dispositionsmashed the
"milkyglass."His lightshad to be brightand glaring.We can
see in Emersonmore and more the teacherand
nevertheless
master,theone indispensable"precursor."
VI.

It is generallyadmittedthatNietzscheadoptedthe formof
the essayfromEmerson.That form,however,developsnaturallyfromtheirmethodofcollectingliterarymaterial.Whoeverperusesthe ten volumesof Emerson'sjournalswill find
himmorethanever"thewritertherichestin ideas ofthecentury,"and will recognizewhat John Burroughscalled his
"staccatoturnofmind."There theessaycan be seen "in statu
nascendi."Nietzsche'scopybooks,as faras theyare publicly
known,look much the same. Themes appear promiscuously,
and fromtime to time some arrangementis made of them.
Nietzscheturnedfinallyto theformofaphorism,as an expression of whatJasperscalled his "fragmentary
thinking."The
is
too
basis
of
Emerson's
essays only
apparent.27We
aphoristic
mayquote JohnBurroughsagain:
26Emerson a few months before his death, at Longfellow's funeral,"wanand gazed at the faceof the dead man. 'I cannot remember
dered up to the coffin
his name,' he said, 'but he was a good man.' " When Nietzschetwo yearsbefore
he died was told of the death of his intimatefriendRohde, he said, "Yes, I must
have knownhim."
27 A remarkof Hermann Grimm'sis
significant.He said of Emerson,"I became unusually interestedin the structureof the phrases; soon I discoveredthe
secret.They containedreal ideas."

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EMERSON AND NIETZSCHE

81

a succession
of brilliantand start"His essaysare fragmentary,
orvaticinations,
withlittleorno logicalsequence
lingaffirmations,
of thought
ofmoral
undergreatpressure
... jetsand projectiles
genius."
Nietzschehad an immediatecausefortheuse ofaphorismin
his "disease."The irritation
ofhis eyeswas temporarily
equivalent to blindness.It became almost impossiblefor him to
write continuously,and he was preventedfromre-reading
whathe had written.People like Peter Gast had later to decipher almost illegible sheetsor notebooks.His health also
compelledhim to travelfromone climateto another.A great
deal ofhisthinkingand writingwas performed
ambulando,as
was Emerson's,though for differentreasons. Having once
adopted the aphoristicstyle,Nietzschedid not relinquishit
when he was again able to workcontinuously,
for,as Jaspers
had
"The
lain
in his earlier
concealed
says,
already
aphorism
treatises."
In epistemology,
in the criteriaof certainty,in transcendentalidealism,thereare distinctconformities
betweenEmerson and Nietzsche.Emerson'stheoryof certainty
is immanent
pragmatism.Nietzsche'scomplicatedtheoryof truthproves
pragmaticin a highersense. His conceptionof the possible
of truthand usefulnessof error,even of the inharmfulness
dispensabilityof errorforlife is an instanceof his circular
dialectic,whichrecallsEmerson'scircles.Repetitionand contradictionare,ofcourse,inevitableconsequencesof this"selfevidence,"or attributionof certaintyto the sallyand the inspiration.Bliss Perrycalled Emerson"an advocateof the intuition,as againstthereportofthesenses,againsttheclaimsof
formalargument."In America,with its "alternatingopinions,"thepragmaticaspectofthisdoctrineofexperimentalacestablishedtoday.
ceptanceof thenew is firmly
authorand the eclectic,if the lattertermis
The systematic
at firstapplied conditionally,
are comprisedin a parallel.The
character
of
the
selective
eclecticmethodand the discontinu-

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82

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

ityof its resultsare expressed in Eddington's metaphor of the

sieve:
"In Einstein'stheoryof relativitytheobserveris a man who sets
out in quest of trutharmed with a measuring-rod;in quantum
theoryhe setsout witha sieve."
The measuring-rodbelongs to Kant and Schopenhauer; the
sieve is the instrumentof Emerson and Nietzsche.
It is not only this that frustratesany attemptto discover systems and dogmatic firstpositions in the writingsof Emerson
and Nietzsche. Only their habits of thoughtand techniques of
communication are consistent, and the latter are characteristically"fragmentary,"marked by "perpetual motion." Their
effectis like thatof the expressionisticstyleofJamesJoyce.The
Journals and the Nachlass, especially, read like soliloquies.
There is no static position, but always a dynamic progressof
thought,"slow and sure" though Emerson's progressis. Indeed,
there is a constantlyunsystematicimpulse. The conscious experiment appears and reappears in the attemptsof our two authors to elucidate man and "existence," as the phenomenolocause forcertainty,
gistssay. Logic is acknowledged as sufficient
but syllogismis not invested as a rule, and almost never used
as a means of perception. Nietzsche's dialectic co6rdination of
the logical and the illogical is colored withpragmatism.Usefulness passes fora criterionof truth.
It is incorrectto derive the frequent thesis and antithesisof
Nietzsche, and of Emerson, fromthe Hegelian process of synthesis. Theirs is rather a stereoscopic examination of the universe. Kant is inevitablybroughtto mind by Emerson's dictum
in Nature:
"Regard natureas phenomenon,not as substance;attributenecessaryexistenceto spirit;esteemnatureas accidentand effect."
The contradictions and repetitions of the two writers have
been illustrated above. In Menschliches Allzumenschliches
Nietzsche explicitly defends the appropriateness of this style:

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EMERSON AND NIETZSCHE

83

"Repetition.It is good to expressa thingdoublyat once, and to

give it a rightand a leftfoot.The truthcan stand,indeed,on one
leg; withtwoit can comeand go."
Antithesisis deliberately assigned a place in the elucidation of
truth:
"Antithesisis the narrowgate throughwhich errorpreferably
slipsitselfinto truth."
Nietzsche's application of "Yo me sucedo a mio mismo" to
Emerson gains particular significancein the light of this sentence fromMenschliches A llzumenschliches:
"The positiveand the negative.-This thinkerneeds no one to
counteracthim; he is sufficient
in himself."
Was Nietzsche a sceptic or a relativistin writing:
"Illogicalitynecessary.... Even themostreasonablemustresort
fromtimeto timeto nature,thatis, the illogical foundationof all
things."
This suggests "coincidentia oppositorum" and "complementarity."The "mask," the dissimulation, and the ambiguity of Menschliches Allzumenschliches are in point here.
Emerson,probably unconsciously,used the same devices which
Nietzsche intentionally adopted as defensive weapons, means
of "accepting or rejecting sophistry."Though no analysis of
Emerson and Nietzsche as poets is attempted here, the
"Sphinx" should not be forgotten.
There is another point worth discussion. We have already
used Eddington's metaphor of the sieve. The sieve is analogous
to the apparatus of the senses and to the "transcendental substance of the intellect." The universe of our perception is the
result of selection effectedby this apparatus. Eddington therefore designates his own epistemological standpoint "selective
subjectivism." No more apt description of Emerson's and
Nietzsche's approach to the object of meditation could be
found. In this connection we think of eclecticism, not in the

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84

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

oftheEncyclopaedia
popularsense,butratherin thedefinition
Britannica:
"The essenceofeclecticism
istherefusal
tofollowblindlyoneset
and conventions.
offormulae
eclecticism
therefore,
Theoretically,
is a perfectly
soundmethod."
The eclecticism
ofEmersonand Nietzscheis sublimatedabove
withgreatsystems
plagiarism.Times whichremaindissatisfied
eclectic
The
rankof Emerson
intellectual
encourage
thought.
and Nietzscheisnotdiminishedbythisclassification.
considered,Nietzscheseemsto have been influEverything
encedin a higherdegreebyEmersonthanbyanyone else.The
processofassimilationextendingoveryearsis obscuredby the
infrequencyof directreference,and until the NietzscheArchiveis openedto freeresearch,itsfullextentcannotbe measured.The congeniality
ofEmersonand Nietzscheisnotlimited
to theformal,methodologicalfield.They are in contactin the
particularfieldof ideas thatcaused mostexcitementamong
Nietzsche'scontemporaries.Emerson'sAddress of July 15,
1838, caused correspondingexcitementamong the Harvard
theologians.His radicalismhas long been emphasizedbysuch
thoughtfulstudentsof his writingsas Bliss Perryand John
Burroughs.
Thus far,Emersonmustbe regardedas theteacherand masterratherthanas a "precurseur"of Nietzsche.The pupil, as
in manyothercases,has outdistancedthe teacher.Nietzsche's
mentalityis to Emerson'swhat the rough lonelinessof SilsMaria and Turin is to thegentlesolitudeofConcord.

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