--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I look at this age with the eye of a…" description: "\"“When I look at this age with the eye of a distant future, I find nothing so remarkable in the man of the present day as his peculiar virtue and sickne..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f19/friedrich-nietzsche-15_happiness_when-i-look-at-this-age-with-the-eye-of_606196.jpg" --- # When I look at this age with the eye of a distant future… ![“When I look at this age with the eye of a distant future, I find nothing so remarkable in the man of the present day as his peculiar virtue and sickness called "the historical sense." It is a tendency to something quite new and foreign in history: if this embryo were given several centuries and…” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f19/friedrich-nietzsche-15_happiness_when-i-look-at-this-age-with-the-eye-of_606196.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f19/friedrich-nietzsche-15_happiness_when-i-look-at-this-age-with-the-eye-of_606196.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f19/friedrich-nietzsche-15_happiness_when-i-look-at-this-age-with-the-eye-of_606196.jpg) > ““When I look at this age with the eye of a distant future, I find nothing so remarkable in the man of the present day as his peculiar virtue and sickness called "the historical sense." It is a tendency to something quite new and foreign in history: if this embryo were given several centuries and more, there might finally evolve out of it a marvellous plant, with a smell equally marvellous, on account of which our old earth might be more pleasant to live in than it has been hitherto. We moderns are just beginning to form the chain of a very powerful, future sentiment, link by link, we hardly know what we are doing. It almost seems to us as if it were not the question of a new sentiment, but of the decline of all old sentiments: the historical sense is still something so poor and cold, and many are attacked by it as by a frost, and are made poorer and colder by it. To others it appears as the indication of stealthily approaching age, and our planet is regarded by them as a melancholy invalid, who, in order to forget his present condition, writes the history of his youth. In fact, this is one aspect of the new sentiment He who knows how to regard the history of man in its entirety as his own history, feels in the immense generalisation all the grief of the invalid who thinks of health, of the old man who thinks of the dream of his youth, of the lover who is robbed of his beloved, of the martyr whose ideal is destroyed, of the hero on the evening of the indecisive battle which has brought him wounds and the loss of a friend. But to bear this immense sum of grief of all kinds, to be able to bear it, and yet still be the hero who at the commencement of a second day of battle greets the dawn and his happiness, as one who has an horizon of centuries before and behind him, as the heir of all nobility, of all past intellect, and the obligatory heir (as the noblest) of all the old nobles; while at the same time the first of a new nobility, the equal of which has never been seen nor even dreamt of: to take all this upon his soul, the oldest, the newest, the losses, hopes, conquests, and victories of mankind: to have all this at last in one soul, and to comprise it in one feeling: this would necessarily furnish a happiness which man has not hitherto known, a God's happiness, full of power and love, full of tears and laughter, a happiness which, like the sun in the evening, continually gives of its inexhaustible riches and empties into the sea, and like the sun, too, feels itself richest when even the poorest fisherman rows with golden oars! This divine feeling might then be called humanity!”” [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects on humanity’s emerging awareness of history as a collective, burdensome inheritance that can both enrich and chill the spirit, urging a synthesis of past grief with future hope. **In simple terms:** Seeing history as a shared burden can inspire both melancholy and empowerment. Key Takeaway Embrace past suffering to fuel future purpose. Themes history identity philosophy future burden Mood reflective melancholic hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - cultural analysis - literary criticism - educational curricula Key Concepts collective memory existential reflection temporal consciousness Questions to Reflect On - How can we honor past suffering without becoming overwhelmed? - What practices help transform historical awareness into constructive energy? A Different Perspective The historical sense may paralyze rather than motivate if not balanced with present action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Loss of a friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss-of-a-friend/) [Old man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-man/) [Power and love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-and-love/) [Present day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-day/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Fashion only seems to make sense if it's rooted in some dimension of history or if it feels like a continuation of an idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/fashion-only-seems-to-make-sense-if-it-s-rooted-in-some-dimension-of/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“The power of gradually losing all feeling of strangeness or astonishment, and finally being pleased at anything, is called the historical sense or historical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-power-of-gradually-losing-all-feeling-of-strangeness-or/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [A lack of the historical sense is the hereditary fault of all philosophers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/a-lack-of-the-historical-sense-is-the-hereditary-fault-of-all/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Yet if the only form of tradition, of handing down, consisted in following the ways of the immediate generation before us in a blind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/yet-if-the-only-form-of-tradition-of-handing-down-consisted-in/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [In historic events, the so-called great men are labels giving names to events, and like labels they have but the smallest connection with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/in-historic-events-the-so-called-great-men-are-labels-giving-names-to/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“In historical events great men-so called-are but the labels that serve to give a mane to an event, and like labels, they have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-historical-events-great-men-so-called-are-but-the-labels-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [After all, science is essentially international, and it is only through lack of the historical sense that national qualities have been attributed to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-curie/after-all-science-is-essentially-international-and-it-is-only-through/) [Marie Curie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-curie/) > [Life cannot be destroyed for good, neithercan history be brought entirely to a halt. A secret streamlet trickles on beneath the heavy lid of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/life-cannot-be-destroyed-for-good-neithercan-history-be-brought/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [“History, I always think, is our reality check. And understanding it in places like Liverpool's International Slavery Museum is an essential part of deepening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/history-i-always-think-is-our-reality-check-and-understanding-it-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The historical sense involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-historical-sense-involves-a-perception-not-only-of-the-pastness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The historical sense compels a man to write not merely with his own generation in his bones, but with a feeling that the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-historical-sense-compels-a-man-to-write-not-merely-with-his-own/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [One of the great things about being an older person is that I am very aware of the scope of the work and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-leibovitz/one-of-the-great-things-about-being-an-older-person-is-that-i-am-very/) [Annie Leibovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-leibovitz/) > [“Consciously a man lives on his own account in freedom of willbut he serves as an unconscious instrument in bringing about the historical ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/consciously-a-man-lives-on-his-own-account-in-freedom-of-willbut-he/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Historical sense and poetic sense should not, in the end, be contradictory, for if poetry is the little myth we make, history is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/historical-sense-and-poetic-sense-should-not-in-the-end-be/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [Ancient history, besides the still unequalled excellence of the writers, is the best instrument for cultivating the historical sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goldwin-smith/ancient-history-besides-the-still-unequalled-excellence-of-the/) [Goldwin Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goldwin-smith/) ## More by Friedrich Nietzsche > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Every select man strives instinctively for a citadel and a privacy, where he is FREE from the crowd, the many, the majority-- where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-select-man-strives-instinctively-for-a-citadel-and-a-privacy/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“It breaks my heart. Better than your words, your eye tells me all your peril. You are not yet free, you still search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-breaks-my-heart-better-than-your-words-your-eye-tells-me-all-your/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“79. 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Life - that is: continually shedding something that wants to die. Life - that is: being cruel and inexorable against everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-life-life-that-is-continually-shedding-something-that-wants/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It is thus only this personal feeling of misery that we get rid of by acts of pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-thus-only-this-personal-feeling-of-misery-that-we-get-rid-of-by/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. 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Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Pain makes hens and poets cackle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/pain-makes-hens-and-poets-cackle/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) [Explore all 3,486 Friedrich Nietzsche quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## More Happiness quotes > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation… There are going to be priorities and dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-morrison/balance-suggests-a-perfect-equilibrium-there-is-no-such-thing-that-is/) [Denise Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-morrison/) > [“WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL OUR CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WE CAN CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE. WE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/we-can-t-always-control-our-circumstances-but-we-can-control-our/) [MARVIN J. ASHTON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/) > [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/) [Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/) > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It was beautiful. 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We moderns are just beginning to form the chain of a very powerful, future sentiment, link by link, we hardly know what we are doing. It almost seems to us as if it were not the question of a new sentiment, but of the decline of all old sentiments: the historical sense is still something so poor and cold, and many are attacked by it as by a frost, and are made poorer and colder by it. To others it appears as the indication of stealthily approaching age, and our planet is regarded by them as a melancholy invalid, who, in order to forget his present condition, writes the history of his youth. In fact, this is one aspect of the new sentiment He who knows how to regard the history of man in its entirety as his own history, feels in the immense generalisation all the grief of the invalid who thinks of health, of the old man who thinks of the dream of his youth, of the lover who is robbed of his beloved, of the martyr whose ideal is destroyed, of the hero on the evening of the indecisive battle which has brought him wounds and the loss of a friend. But to bear this immense sum of grief of all kinds, to be able to bear it, and yet still be the hero who at the commencement of a second day of battle greets the dawn and his happiness, as one who has an horizon of centuries before and behind him, as the heir of all nobility, of all past intellect, and the obligatory heir (as the noblest) of all the old nobles; while at the same time the first of a new nobility, the equal of which has never been seen nor even dreamt of: to take all this upon his soul, the oldest, the newest, the losses, hopes, conquests, and victories of mankind: to have all this at last in one soul, and to comprise it in one feeling: this would necessarily furnish a happiness which man has not hitherto known, a God's happiness, full of power and love, full of tears and laughter, a happiness which, like the sun in the evening, continually gives of its inexhaustible riches and empties into the sea, and like the sun, too, feels itself richest when even the poorest fisherman rows with golden oars! 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