Walking the Tightrope

If the late-summer of 1881 changed Nietzsche completely with his “discovery” of the eternal return of the same , then the late-spring of 1882 was equally momentous and compelling. I would argue that no single moment in his life affected Fritz more profoundly than a extended walk taken with Lou just before sunset one day in early May 1882. It would reverb through his thought and emotions for many months, if not years, afterwards. It ultimately led him down the path to composing his most famous philosophic work. Paul and Fritz joined Lou and her mother in the small town of Orta on what was apparently a beautiful spring day. As has been mentioned, the meeting was delayed by a sudden bout of illness in Fritz. But, he rallied quickly and things went pretty much as he and Lou had planned. “…so the party arrived on an early May day in the ancient town of Orta , situated on a peninsula that juts out into the lake from the eastern shore. Opposite it, like an emerging pearl, lies the Isla...