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“Untroubled, scornful, outrageous – that is how wisdom wants us to be: she is a woman and never loves anyone but a warrior.”
In Nietzsche’s magnum opus, ‘Thus Spake Zarathustra,’ we find an unusual discourse from his alter-ego, the Nietzschean superman named Zarathustra, that critiques the passive consumption of knowledge through reading alone, making it clear that true wisdom cannot be gained solely through absorbing the thoughts of others. He advocates for a more active engagement with ideas and encourages readers to approach texts critically and creatively suggesting to us through his mythopoetic style that we should interpret and reinterpret the knowledge of others for ourselves in an ongoing process of intellectual exploration and discovery, instead of merely accepting the words of others as true, or correct.
Wisdom is thus presented as an idealised woman, a medieval or Victorian lady of virtue, or perhaps a Greco-Roman goddess who demands that all seekers of her be bold and cut from the same cloth as the heroes of ages past, that they be willing to climb the highest peaks and descend into the lowest depths in order to win the affection of her. Thus, the warrior symbolises the individual who is unafraid to confront challenges and obstacles in their quest for knowledge. Wisdom is something that man must prove himself worthy of. By portraying wisdom as a woman of nobility, Nietzsche may be emphasising the importance of a receptive and intuitive approach to acquiring knowledge. He suggests that wisdom is not something to be conquered or dominated but rather approached with respect and understanding.
Furthermore, Nietzsche emphasises the importance of personal experience and lived wisdom over intellectual pursuits alone. He suggests that true insight comes from embracing life’s challenges and struggles, rather than relying solely on abstract theories and concepts, passionately engaging with the pursuit of knowledge. Wisdom requires that we be committed to her, which is why she is a woman.
