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Ecce homo. Wie man wird, was man ist
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
(1888)

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Ecce Homo Ecce Homo. Come si diventa ciò che si
11
As it is my intention within a very short time to confront my
fellow-men with the very greatest demand that has ever yet been made
upon them, it seems to me _above_ all necessary to declare here who
and what I am. As a matter of fact, this ought to be pretty well
known already, for I have not "held my tongue" about myself. But
the disparity which obtains between the greatness of my task and the
smallness of my contemporaries, is revealed by the fact that people
have neither heard me nor yet seen me. I live on my own self-made
credit, and it is probably only a prejudice to suppose that I am alive
at all. I do but require to speak to any one of the scholars who come
to the Ober-Engadine in the summer in order to convince myself that I
am _not_ alive.... Under these circumstances, it is a duty--and one
against which my customary reserve, and to a still greater degree the
pride of my instincts, rebel--to say: _Listen! for I am such and such a
person. For Heaven's sake do not confound me with any one else!_


In previsione del fatto che fra breve dovrò affrontare l’umanità con l’esigenza più grave che le sia mai stata posta, mi sembra necessario dire chi sono. In fondo è possibile che lo si sappia già: poiché non ho mai mancato di «dare testimonianza di me». Ma la discrepanza tra la grandezza del mio compito e la piccolezza dei miei contemporanei si manifesta nel fatto che non mi hanno udito о anche soltanto visto. Vivo a mio proprio credito, forse è solo un pregiudizio, che io viva?... Mi basta solo parlare con un qualche «dotto» che venga d’estate in Alta Engadina per convincermi che non vivo... In queste circostanze c’è un dovere contro U quale, in fondo, la mia abitudine e ancor più l’orgoglio dei miei istinti si rivolta, dire cioè: Ascoltatemi! poiché io sono questo e quest‘altro. E soprattutto non confondetemi con altri!


  • well: You use well to say that something was done in a good way.
  • ever: Ever means at any time.
  • suppose: To suppose is to guess.
  • necessary: If something is necessary, you must do it.
  • require: To require something is to say that it is necessary.
  • against: To be against something is to be touching it or opposed to it.
  • still: Still is used when you say that a situation keeps going on.
  • either: Either is used with or to say there are two or more possibilities.
  • thin: If someone or something is thin, they are not fat.
  • demand: To demand something is to say strongly that you want it.
  • yet: Yet is used to say something has not happened up to now.
  • else: If you talk about something else, you talk about something different.
  • alive: If someone or something is alive, they are not dead.
  • already: If something happens already, it happens before a certain time.
  • serve: To serve someone is to give them food or drinks.
  • task: A task is work that someone has to do.
  • neither: You use neither to connect two negative statements.
  • ride: To ride something is to travel on it. You can ride an animal, a bike, etc.
  • own: To own something means to have it. That thing belongs to you.
  • within: You use within to say that something is inside another thing.
  • gain: If you gain something, you get more of it.
  • above: If something is above, it is at a higher level than something else.


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