Name: Nietzsche - You Are Your Own Worst Enemy
Uploaded: 2021-08-13T18:15:07.000Z
Duration: 7 min 54 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Future simple

In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche said, “you yourself will always be the worst

Modal verbs - A2

enemy you can encounter; you yourself lie in wait for yourself in caves and forests.”

The superlative

In my opinion, Nietzsche shared an important insight with us: we really are our own worst

So I'm gonna explore this idea through a dialogue.

--- At the end of his show, after everyone else

had gone home, in the middle of a circus tent, under a sky lit by the moon and the stars,

an accomplished acrobat (A) was approached by a young student (S).

The young student, looking distraught, introduced himself to the acrobat before opening up.

S: I want to be an acrobat and walk the tightrope, but I'm afraid.

I'm afraid about making a living, and I'm afraid about what the people close to me will

They'll make me feel small and foolish for joining the circus, but I feel the wire calling

A: You will always be your own worst enemy.

I wanna be a great acrobat like you, but society doesn't value artists.

And on top of that, my family and friends will judge me for doing what they don't

What's holding you back is your own fear.

You fear society not valuing you, and you fear the disapproval of your loved ones.

S: I guess you're right, but what can I do?

A: They're not the ones causing your fears.

You think that if you become an acrobat, no one will pay.

And if no one pays you, you fear ending up on the streets.

A: You think if you become an acrobat, your family and friends won't respect you.

And I know I shouldn't feel this way, but I do.

A: There's no value in judging how you feel.

You just used thought to ask me a question.

It was your desire to get clarification, wasn't it?

A: So you agree, thought arises from desire.

You want society to value artists more because you believe that will help you get paid.

A: And you want everyone to respect you for your career.

A: OK, now I need you to listen carefully.

So your desire leads to thought, and your thought leads to fear.

So if your desire goes away, the thought goes away, and if the thought goes away, so does

And when the fear drops away, you get out of your own way.

A: See that's the trap: you can't drop desire.

Wanting to drop desire is itself a desire.

Fighting fire with fire only produces more fire.

But desires fall away on their own through understanding.

So let's look at your own understanding of the world.

A: So you believe that society doesn't value artists, and if society doesn't value artists,

If you sell water in a desert, does it matter what people think of you?

A: So why does it matter if society values artists or not?

People value anything they perceive as an absolute necessity.

If something is a necessity for you, you better believe it will be a necessity for someone

And if the things you create are a necessity to someone, they will pay you for it.

A: Now, you also believe that if you have everyone's respect, you'll be happy.

A: People respect you when you live according to their values.

But if you live according to someone else's values, you'll never respect yourself.

You'll become resentful, and you'll regret not living out your dreams.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Nietzsche - You Are Your Own Worst Enemy

perspective

perceive

approach

matter