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Amod Sandhya Lele's avatar

I love the passage about being able to resist stimuli. Very close to Buddhist mindfulness - being aware of reactions, reacting with intentionality rather than instinct.

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Charles Johnson's avatar

Yes, I think so, too. I found this passage in Nietzsche through Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society. Han talks more about external impulses, i.e., digital pollution competing for our attention. But I think Nietzsche was concerned more with inner restlessness.

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Renaissance Animal's avatar

This was a worthwhile read. On the background of Nietzsche's "school for free spirits," I wonder if you might enjoy reading _Nietzsche's Journey to Sorrento_ (by Paolo D'Iorio, translated by Silvia Mae Gorelick), specifically Ch. 2, "'The School of Educators' at the Villa Rubinacci." It gives some idea of what this unrealized alternative to Basel might have been meant to look like, had it ever progessed beyond the page. Anyway, as a fellow educator, your piece resonated with me on multiple levels.

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Charles Johnson's avatar

Thanks so much. This is exactly the kind of resource I'm looking for.

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