Friedrich Nietzsche

The Gay Science

Joke, Cunning, and Revenge

18 Narrow Souls
Narrow souls I cannot abide;
There’s almost no good or evil inside.

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21 Against Airs
Those who inflate themselves are cursed
When pricked by a small pin to burst.

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25 Request
The minds of others I know well;
But who I am. I cannot tell:

My eye is much too close to me,
I am not what I saw and see.
It would be quite a benefit
If only I could sometimes sit
Farther away; but my foes are
Too distant; close friends. still too far;
Between my friends and me, the middle
Would do. My wish? You guess my riddle.