Monday 21 November 2011

Lady Gaga and the ape


During my TV dinner I just caught a glimpse of Lady Gaga presenting a book of photos (photos of herself - what else?). She mentioned something she had learned. Shame is obselete, she said.

Nietzsche wrote two sentences about the ape in "Thus Spake Zarathustra":
"What is the ape to man? A laughingstock or a painful embarrassment."
Along with Darwin and Lady Gaga we accept with perfect equanimity the idea that the ape is there at the top of our family tree.

The inability any longer to be ashamed of the ape that still dwells within us is nothing to brag about.
"Alas, the time of the most despicable man has come - the one who is no longer able to despise himself. Behold, I show you the last man."

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