«There are so many dawns that have not yet shone.»

Rigveda

Interesting reflections by Nietzsche that start from the assertion that morality is an authority that does not allow thinking or speaking: only obeying.

In that order of ideas, the author believes that such a lack of reasoning leads to beliefs with no validity, which he calls «prejudices»... including and describing a total of 575.

Although the first edition dates back to 1881, many of these beliefs still prevail in today's society. Next, I share with you some of the ones that caught my attention the most:

▪ The morality of voluntary suffering

▪ Refined cruelty as a virtue

▪ Doubt as a sin

▪ Pretending as a duty

Nietzsche's work challenges us to question the moral authorities and prejudices that we have taken for granted. By examining these ideas, we can gain a deeper understanding of our own values and beliefs and perhaps even break free from the constraints of traditional morality. It is important to remember that just because something has been believed for a long time does not mean it is true. We must always be willing to think critically and question the status quo.

Admittedly, I did not finish this book. Since it's a collection of aphorisms, I skimmed through it. Nietzsche had some interesting things to say.

For instance, he posited that our free will was an illusion and our psychology was more like one desire vying against another rather than a passive observer deciding whether or not to yield to a desire. This perspective was quite thought-provoking and made me reflect on the nature of our actions and decisions.

However, at other times, his aphorisms left me cold. Part of the reason was his writing style. He didn't develop any comprehensive system of thought. Instead, he presented his views as pronouncements, which sometimes made it difficult for me to fully engage with his ideas.

Despite this, Nietzsche's work still has value. His aphorisms can serve as starting points for further exploration and discussion, and they can challenge us to think differently about ourselves and the world around us.

Overall, while I may not have finished this book, I still gained some insights from Nietzsche's aphorisms and I look forward to exploring his work further in the future.

I thought this was unfocused at times but worth reading nonetheless.

It seems that the content might lack a clear and consistent central theme, which could make it a bit challenging to follow at certain points. However, despite this drawback, there is still value to be gained from perusing it.

You'll get a lot more out of this if you're reading Nietzsche in order as this essentially forms the introduction to his middle and late periods.

When approaching Nietzsche's works in a sequential manner, this particular piece serves as a crucial starting point, providing insights and setting the stage for what lies ahead in his later philosophical developments.

If you’re already familiar with these then some of what's written here will not be new to you.

Those who have already delved deep into Nietzsche's middle and late period ideas may find that certain aspects of this text are already known to them. Nevertheless, it could still offer a fresh perspective or a reminder of some key concepts, making it a worthwhile read even for the more experienced Nietzsche enthusiasts.

Nietzsche's profound insights are truly remarkable.

He contends that fear has been a more potent force in promoting general knowledge among mankind than love. Fear compels us to explore and understand the other, to uncover their true nature, knowledge, and desires. Deception in this regard can have perilous consequences. Love, however, has a different inclination. It secretly yearns to discover and magnify the beautiful qualities in the loved one, or to elevate them to the highest possible degree. Being deceived in this way is seen as delightful and auspicious, and thus love indulges in it.

Nietzsche is indeed a genius, and his works deserve to be studied and analyzed in every educational institution. Since August of last year, I have been reading his book in small portions, as he seemingly intended. He advises that such a book is not meant to be devoured in one sitting or read aloud. Instead, it is better suited for reference during walks and travels. We should pick it up, read a little, and then put it down again, especially when we are not in our familiar surroundings. Nietzsche's words are like a powerful kick in the teeth to all the nonsense that is currently happening in the world.

Dawn of Day is a significant transition book into Nietzsche's later work. It is composed of five books of aphorisms that cover a wide range of topics. These include the origins of religion, philosophy, and social customs, as well as how to manage one's drives and Nietzsche's view on where philosophy and Europe should have gone.

Although I'm not certain if I would recommend that those approaching Nietzsche begin with Dawn, it is indeed one of his more moderate texts. However, the seeds of his later polemics can clearly be seen within it. The aphoristic style of the book deliberately avoids systematic philosophizing, which Nietzsche believed was limiting to both personal thoughtfulness and philosophy in general.

As a result, readers may find themselves frequently flipping back and forth to previous pages to add notes as Nietzsche weaves together his different themes and ideas. This book is an excellent one for practicing margin notes. The aphoristic style allows the thoughts to be read in manageable chunks, but it also makes it difficult to read the entire book at once. This was intentional, as Nietzsche himself stated in Aphorism 454: "A book such as this is not for reading straight through or reading aloud, but for cracking open, especially during a walk or on a journey; you must be able to stick your head into it and out again over and over and find about you nothing you are used to." With its experimental, aphoristic style, Dawn embodies much of what Nietzsche would advocate in his later works while maintaining a more mild, yet still rigorous, tone compared to, for example, Beyond Good and Evil or The Antichrist.

**Morgenröthe. Gedanken über die Moralischen Vorurtheile = Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality = The Dawn of Day, Friedrich Nietzsche**

Nietzsche's work in "Daybreak" presents a significant departure from traditional views. He de-emphasizes the role of hedonism as a motivator and instead accentuates the role of a feeling of power. His moral and cultural relativism, as well as his critique of Christianity, reach greater maturity. In this book, Nietzsche devotes a lengthy passage to criticizing Christian biblical exegesis, specifically highlighting its arbitrary interpretation of objects and images in the Old Testament as prefigurements of Christ's crucifixion.

The book was first read on July 2, 2002. It was written by Friedrich Nietzsche and translated by Ali Abdullah. Published in Tehran by Jami in 1380, it has 432 pages with the ISBN 9645620821. The second edition was published in 1388 with 416 pages and the ISBN 9789645620828. The fourth edition, also by Jami and Musaddeq, was published in 1396 with the same number of pages and ISBN. The book's main topics include morality, prejudices, and is by a German author from the 19th century.
The table of contents includes "The Translator's Note", "From This Man", "Daybreak", "Preface", "Book One", "Book Two", "Book Three", "Book Four", "Book Five", "The Translator's Additions", "Glossary of Terms in the Text", and "References". Another name for this book is "Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality". Its main content focuses on morality, customs, castes, and their powers. "Daybreak" was completed by Nietzsche in January 1881 at the age of 37. It was published in the summer of the same year in five books and 575 pages without the main title. Knowledge of Nietzsche's life and work comes through the writings of his friend Peter Gast, who published a report on "Daybreak" in Weimar in 1909, a decade after Nietzsche's death.
Nietzsche's short sentences and poem-like prose in this book show his philosophical sophistication. He addresses impulses that drive humans to seek solace in religion, ethics, metaphysics, and art. In "Daybreak", Nietzsche advocates for greater individuality and personal growth, dealing with society and family, and bringing forth free-spirited individuals who have the courage to break free from illusory distinctions. This valuable work, written in Nietzsche's unique and sometimes contradictory style, addresses almost all the topics that are examined in his later works.
Some excerpts from the end of the book are as follows: (When - as is usually the case with the thinking soul - one feels oneself in the great river of thought and feeling - and even the brooks are in the meadow following this river - one then desires peace and quiet from life - while others at that very moment when they busy themselves with care and discovery desire peace from life; it is the same with you and me! But how brave you are and me too! Other birds will have a more accurate flight: this is our vision and determination; there where everything is ocean, ocean! - And then where shall we go? Do we want to cross over the ocean? This great desire that we want to cross over the ocean? This great desire that takes us away from every excessive pleasure, where does it pull us? It takes us away from every excessive pleasure, where does it pull us? Why in this direction and not that, in the direction where all the suns of humanity have hitherto set? Will our story one day be like this, that we once headed east and hoped to reach India - but our lot was failure on the infinite shore?) End of excerpt.
Published on 11/04/1400 Hijri Shamsi by A. Sharbiani.

What then should be our attitude towards the actions of others?

First of all, we look at what results for us from these actions. We judge them only from this point of view. It is this effect caused on us that we consider as the intention of the act. And finally, the intentions attributed to others become in them permanent qualities, so that we make them, for example, "a dangerous man." Triple error! Triple misunderstanding, as old as the world! Perhaps this heritage comes to us from animals and their faculty of judgment. Must we not seek the origin of all morality in these horrible little conclusions: "What harms me is something bad (that is harmful in itself); what is useful to me is good (beneficent and profitable in itself); what harms me once or several times is hostile to me in itself; what is useful to me once or several times is favorable to me in itself." O shameful origin! Does this not mean: to interpret the pitiful, occasional and accidental relations that another can have with us as if these relations were the essence and the foundation of his being, and to claim that towards everyone and towards himself he is only capable of relations similar to the relations that we have had with him once or several times? And behind this true madness, is there not the most immodest of all ulterior motives: to believe that we must ourselves be the principle of the good since good and evil are determined according to us?

The text presents some thoughts on Nietzsche's work. It begins with a quote about conclusions growing like fungus within us, leaving the thinker who is not the gardener but just the soil in a state of woe. The author admits that they probably need a second reading as they have been away from Nietzsche for a long time and this may not be the best piece to start with or get back into. It didn't fully satisfy their craving for something Nietzschean and left them a bit confused, not sure what else to say about it. However, they do find a certain chunk quite lovely, which they refer to as horti-ramblings (with a perhaps shameless and inevitably biased preference). The second blockquote describes how rococo horticulture and philosophy both arise from the desire to beautify something that is seen as ugly or unappealing. Philosophy wants to entertain in a more sublime and exalted way before a select audience, creating a kind of horticulture that deceives the eyes and presents science in an extract with strange and unexpected illuminations, involving it in indefiniteness, irrationality, and reverie. The author who has this ambition even dreams of making religion superfluous, as it was once the highest form of the art of entertainment for earlier mankind.

I almost always assert that Nietzsche is a poor philosopher yet a profound psychologist. In his earlier works, he is actually a rather good philosopher as well. However, the more deeply I gaze into his ideas, the more I am beginning to think that he is profoundly rational, cutting through many of the delusions that afflict modern society.

Nietzsche takes no prisoners and spares himself not at all, which is both amusing and endearing. He even undermines his previous role model, Schopenhauer, quite brutally.

He has numerous aphorisms on solitude, and in this book, he provides great insights into what he means, along with his definition of evil. Evil is that which is essentially different. Whenever you are around people, they influence you and "socialize" you according to the current morality. Solitude enables you to distance yourself from all these influences and think your own thoughts, shaping your own character. Also, Nietzsche seemed to be someone who simply couldn't get along with people and only liked them from a distance, the latter of which is very relatable, haha.

Interestingly, in this book, he is very human and speaks of manners, being polite, and the burden of revealing himself to others. As in HatH, he is still in a very scientific mode and speaks very highly of knowledge. He is a huge enthusiast of science, and in this regard, he retraces his steps from his stance in BT and becomes very much a man of his age, which is very rare to see him agreeing with his era.

In this book, Nietzsche deals a great deal more with personal growth and self-development than in his other works, and I think it is helpful in understanding his hints in these areas in his later works.

219
The Fraud in Humiliation. – You have caused your neighbor a deep pain with your unreason and destroyed an irreplaceable happiness. And now you overcome your vanity and go to him. You humble yourself before him, give your unreason over to contempt in front of him, and think that after this hard and extremely burdensome scene for you, everything is basically put back in order. Your voluntary loss of honor compensates for the involuntary loss of the other's happiness. With this feeling, you leave uplifted and restored in your virtue. But the other has his deep pain as before. There is nothing comforting for him in the fact that you are unreasonable and have said so. He even remembers the painful sight you gave him when you despised yourself in front of him, like a new wound that he owes to you. But he does not think of revenge and does not understand how something could be compensated between you and him. Basically, you have staged that scene for yourself and in front of yourself. You invited a witness for your sake again and not for his sake. Do not deceive yourself!

This passage presents a thought-provoking situation about the nature of humiliation and the idea of compensation. It shows how one person may think they have made amends by humiliating themselves, but in reality, the harm done to the other person may still remain. The use of vivid language, such as "deep pain" and "irreparable happiness," emphasizes the seriousness of the situation. It also highlights the importance of truly understanding the other person's feelings and not simply assuming that one's actions have made things right. Overall, this passage encourages readers to reflect on the consequences of their actions and the true meaning of making amends.

Moreover, my criticism pertains only to the translation that came into my hands! I'm sorry to say it, but it's bad! In my opinion! But turning a single aphorism as a text into even more aphorisms... in many places, even with effort, it's impossible for me to understand what it's saying, and the translation seems unfortunate in terms of word choice. A translation of such texts should aim to convey the meaning and make it more accessible. The translation by Eleni Kalkani seemed soulless and lacking. What a pity... I thought at times that it was as if a religious fanatic woman was making a text inaccessible...

However, regarding the book that I never finished but will return to at some point, I have to say that each paragraph is a gem and has thought.

Simply incredible.

It is extremely challenging for me to envision a moral philosopher as profoundly influential and brilliantly astute as Nietzsche. Perhaps only Aristotle or Plato could rival his stature.

I dedicated two months to reading this work slowly. Generally, if a book doesn't seem important or is difficult to peruse, I would usually discard it. However, this one is filled with so many profound ideas that require careful consideration and digestion.

The text is beautiful, rich, evocative, and provocative. Nietzsche's ever-reliable aphorisms cut to the core, extracting abstract concepts and deconstructing the prejudices inherent in morality, not only regarding the foundations of moral ideas but also their practical utility.

I suspect that if you already adhere firmly to a particular worldview or moral perspective, you may not glean much from this book. But if you are inclined to dissect (is this a new word?) ethical issues and are generally skeptical of moral claims, then this work will surely ignite your thinking and stimulate your intellectual curiosity.