Nietzsche On Emerson

Nietzsche to Overbeck, December 22, 1884

"...I am having translated into German...a longish essay by Emerson, which gives some clarity about his development...I do not know how much I would give if only I could bring it about, ex post facto, that such a glorious, great nature, rich in soul and spirit, might have gone through some strict discipline, a really scientific education. As it is, in Emerson we have lost a philosopher...."

Walter Kaufmann, The Portable Nietzsche, 440-441.

Emerson died in 1882.



We have to ask: Is the loss of a philosopher so great a thing? Glorious, great natures, rich in soul and spirit are not exactly a dime a dozen.