Beyond Good and Evil — Page 10
You desire to LIVE "according to Nature"? Oh, you noble Stoics, what fraud of words!
Desiderate VIVERE "secondo Natura"? Oh, voi nobili Stoici, che frode di parole!
Imagine to yourselves a being like Nature, boundlessly extravagant, boundlessly indifferent, without purpose or consideration, without pity or justice, at once fruitful and barren and uncertain:
Immaginate a voi stessi un essere come la Natura, smisuratamente stravagante, smisuratamente indifferente, senza scopo o riguardo, senza pietà o giustizia, al tempo stesso feconda e sterile e incerta:
imagine to yourselves INDIFFERENCE as a power--how COULD you live in accordance with such indifference?
immaginate a voi stessi l'INDIFFERENZA come una potenza -- come POTRESTE vivere in accordo con tale indifferenza?
To live--is not that just endeavouring to be otherwise than this Nature?
Vivere -- non è forse proprio sforzarsi di essere altrimenti da questa Natura?
Is not living valuing, preferring, being unjust, being limited, endeavouring to be different?
Non è forse vivere valutare, preferire, essere ingiusti, essere limitati, sforzarsi di essere diversi?
And granted that your imperative, "living according to Nature," means actually the same as "living according to life"--how could you do DIFFERENTLY?
E ammesso che il vostro imperativo, "vivere secondo Natura," significhi in realtà lo stesso che "vivere secondo la vita" -- come potreste fare DIVERSAMENTE?
Why should you make a principle out of what you yourselves are, and must be?
Perché dovreste fare un principio di ciò che voi stessi siete, e dovete essere?
In reality, however, it is quite otherwise with you: while you pretend to read with rapture the canon of your law in Nature, you want something quite the contrary, you extraordinary stage-players and self-deluders!
In realtà, tuttavia, le cose stanno ben altrimenti con voi: mentre fingete di leggere con rapimento il canone della vostra legge nella Natura, volete qualcosa di tutt'altro genere, voi straordinari commedianti e ingannatori di voi stessi!
In your pride you wish to dictate your morals and ideals to Nature, to Nature herself, and to incorporate them therein;
Nel vostro orgoglio volete dettare la vostra morale e i vostri ideali alla Natura, alla Natura stessa, e incorporarli in essa;
you insist that it shall be Nature "according to the Stoa," and would like everything to be made after your own image, as a vast, eternal glorification and generalism of Stoicism!
insistete che essa sia la Natura "secondo la Stoa," e vorreste che tutto fosse fatto a vostra immagine, come una vasta, eterna glorificazione e generalizzazione dello Stoicismo!
Vocabulary
- Desiderate
- You desire; second person plural of desiderare.
- VIVERE
- To live; fundamental Italian infinitive verb.
- secondo
- According to; second in order or sequence.
- Natura
- Nature; the natural world and its phenomena.
- voi
- You; second person plural pronoun in Italian.
- nobili
- Noble; of high rank or distinguished character.
- che
- That; which; relative and conjunction pronoun.
- frode
- Fraud; deception or dishonest trick or scheme.
- di
- Of; preposition indicating possession or origin.
- parole
- Words; plural of parola; spoken language units.
- Immaginate
- Imagine; second person plural imperative form.
- stessi
- Same; identical; emphasizing reflexive pronoun yourself.
- un
- A; an; indefinite article in Italian.
- essere
- To be; fundamental auxiliary Italian verb.
- come
- As; like; how; comparative or interrogative.
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article in Italian.
- indifferente
- Indifferent; unconcerned; showing no particular interest.
- senza
- Without; lacking; deprived of something entirely.
- scopo
- Purpose; aim; goal or objective to achieve.
- riguardo
- Regard; consideration; respect for someone or something.
- pietà
- Pity; compassion; sympathy for another's suffering.
- giustizia
- Justice; fairness; moral rightness in legal matters.
- al
- To the; contraction of a + il.
- tempo
- Time; period; duration or moment in succession.
- stesso
- Same; self; identical or very same thing.
- sterile
- Sterile; barren; unable to produce offspring.
- incerta
- Uncertain; doubtful; not sure or definite.
- INDIFFERENZA
- Indifference; lack of concern or interest shown.
- una
- A; an; feminine singular indefinite article.
- potenza
- Power; strength; ability to exert force.
- POTRESTE
- You could; conditional second person plural form.
- vivere
- To live; to exist or spend life.
- in
- In; within; location or position preposition.
- accordo
- Agreement; harmony; consensus between parties.
- con
- With; accompanied by; in company together.
- tale
- Such; of that kind; similar thing.
- non
- Not; negation; absence of something stated.
- forse
- Perhaps; maybe; possibly but not certainly.
- proprio
- Own; exactly; one's very personal possession.
- sforzarsi
- To strive; to make great effort or struggle.
- altrimenti
- Otherwise; in another manner or way.
- da
- From; by; indicating origin or agent.
- questa
- This; feminine singular demonstrative pronoun.
- valutare
- To evaluate; to assess value or worth.
- preferire
- To prefer; to like one thing better.
- ingiusti
- Unjust; unfair; not just or righteous.
- limitati
- Limited; restricted; confined within boundaries.
- diversi
- Different; various; not the same kind.
- ammesso
- Granted; admitted; assuming something to be true.
- il
- The; masculine singular definite article in Italian.
- vostro
- Your; possessive pronoun plural form.
- imperativo
- Imperative; commanding form; moral duty or demand.
- significhi
- Means; signifies; third person singular subjunctive.
- realtà
- Reality; actual fact; what truly exists.
- lo
- It; him; masculine singular direct object pronoun.
- vita
- Life; existence; period of being alive.
- fare
- To do; to make; to perform action.
- DIVERSAMENTE
- Differently; in another manner or way.
- Perché
- Why; for what reason or purpose.
- dovreste
- You should; conditional form of dovere.
- principio
- Principle; fundamental truth or law.
- ciò
- That; this thing; neuter demonstrative pronoun.
- siete
- You are; second person plural present form.
- dovete
- You must; second person plural present form.
- tuttavia
- However; nevertheless; yet; but still however.
- le
- The; feminine plural definite article in Italian.
- cose
- Things; objects; plural of cosa.
- stanno
- They stand; third person plural present form.
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